Living My Freedom
by AmazinglyRed
Summary: AU After running to the Satellite to escape Sayer, a man seeking to use her for her powers, Akiza clashes with The Enforcers. She soon finds herself attached to these men, especially Yusei, but is constantly sought out because others want her powers.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, my first Yugioh 5D's story!**

**I personally believe that Yusei and Akiza belong together, so I decided to make a story where it happens!**

**This story is a little different from the show, but still goes by the same guidelines and such.**

**I'm horrible at writing duels, so don't expect to see any in my story! Sorry!**

**But anyways, here's the beggining to Living My Freedom!**

Chapter 1

Akiza wrapped her arms tighter around her knees as the temperature dropped. After she had stolen some food from a small house, she had run to the small alley so she could eat in private. Now she was behind an old trashcan, sitting with her back pressed against the cold brick wall behind her with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees.

She had been on her own for months now, ever since she was kicked out of that stupid school. She didn't care, she didn't want to be there anyways. The kids would just separate themselves from her and call her names anyways. Nobody wanted her there either. Nobody had ever wanted her. Her parents wanted to just get rid of the monster that their daughter had turned into, the teachers cringed every time she entered their classroom, kids her age called her names and shunned her, and strangers would never give her a chance once they figured out who and what she was.

After she left the school, she was no longer Akiza Izinski.

That was the name of an innocent girl that should be cherished and spoiled by parents, adored by teachers, befriended by others her age.

No, she wasn't Akiza no more.

She was the Black Rose Witch.

She picked that name in honor of her favorite card, Black Rose Dragon. Everyone had called her a witch before. Well, now she was accepting it. That's what everyone wanted, wasn't it?

Before she had known of her powers, her father had called her his little rose.

Akiza closed her eyes tighter. Well, she wasn't a little rose anymore. She was a black rose, a witch. That was another reason why she now went by Black Rose Witch.

Willing the unpleasant thoughts away, Akiza pulled her dark purple cloak tighter around her chest, hoping to keep more warmth in. She felt her warm breath reflecting off the mask she wore on her face, glad that her face was receiving some warmth. Ever since she had started calling herself the Black Rose Witch, she had worn a long, dark purple cloak and a plastic mask. She didn't want people to see her, and she didn't want to see herself. The only thing someone could see was her hair. That was fine with her.

Akiza tried to pull her legs in closer, but her arms were starting to go numb. She felt her duel disk brush her leg and turned and looked down at it. She never took off her duel disk, and she always had her deck ready. Because of her ability to bring alive duel monsters, she could always make an easy escape when needed or face a challenging opponent with ease.

Not many people challenged her though. Rumors were spreading about her, making people scared to even be in the same town as her, even though she rarely went into a town. She always stayed in the abandoned alleys, going to town only when she needed to steal something. The only people who challenged her were those who wanted to prove that they could defeat the witch, or those who didn't believe the extent of her powers. All challengers ended up lying at her feet, begging for mercy.

She didn't like hurting people, but every time she started to feel pity, she would remember her parents, or the teachers, or the other kids who laughed and made fun of her. Who had hurt her. Then she would get angrier and her powers would go out of control and she would end up severely hurting her opponent.

She hated New Domino City. Everything here was a lie to her. Everyone always said that this was the place for new beginnings and high living.

Not for her. New Domino City was just full of painful memories and anger.

Akiza was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a siren sounding in the distance. She quickly jolted to her feet and started running down the alley. She didn't think the police were after her, but she couldn't take the chance. She ran as fast as her legs would take her as she slid her deck into her duel disk, just in case she would need it. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath and pressed her body tightly against the wall, hoping to blend in.

Her heart started to calm its beat when the siren passed the alley and continued going. She took a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall.

As she laid a hand on her heart, she murmured, "That was close."

Suddenly she felt someone grab her wrist. She gasped as she quickly turned to face the person who had grabbed her.

As she yanked on her wrist she said in an angry voice, "Release me! You fool, do you not know who I am?"

She was surprised to hear his quiet chuckle as he tightened his grip on her wrist. "I know exactly who you are Akiza Izinski. Or should I call you Black Rose Witch? Please, don't be scared, I'm a friend."

For the first time in her life, Akiza felt panic bubbling up in her chest. "Who are you? I have no friends!"

She felt a tug on her arm as he said, "Come into the light and I'll explain everything."

Akiza thought for a moment, then said, "First let go of my arm."

He chuckled as he gave a firmer tug and said, "Believe me when I say that I want to, but as soon as I let you go you'd either run from me or summon a monster to destroy me. Come now, you have nothing to be afraid of."

Akiza hesitated for just a moment, even thought about fighting him, but then grudgingly allowed him to lead her over to a street light. She didn't want to follow him, but she didn't really have a choice. She could either walk with him or be dragged, and she would die before she was dragged by anyone. She would summon a monster as soon as he let go of her arm anyways.

Akiza blinked her eyes rapidly as they stepped under the light. After her vision had adjusted to the sudden change, she looked up at the man who continued to still hold her wrist. He was a tall, slim man. He had brown hair, but she couldn't see his eyes well enough to know what color they were. He was older than her, maybe in his mid twenties. His grip loosened on her wrist as he gave her an encouraging smile.

Akiza had no idea who this man was. She was sure she had never seen him before. "Who are you?"

The man leaned against the street lamp as he said, "My name is Sayer, and I am in charge of something called the Arcadium Movement, which is a place where people like you and me live."

Akiza felt shock and confusion course through her body as she asked, "What do you mean 'people like you and me'?"

Sayer shifted his weight to his other foot as he answered, "Psychic duelists, that's what we are."

Akiza took a step backwards as the shocking news hit her. "Psychic duelists?"

Sayer nodded and said, "Yes. We have the power to bring duel monsters to life, inflicting real damage to opponents. Akiza, I wish to help you control that power. Come with me, live with people who share the same powers as you. I understand you like no one else ever has. Together, we shall be invincible."

Thoughts tumbled in Akiza's mind. She was shocked that there were others like her, and that there was someone out there that wasn't afraid of her and wanted to help her. But then she remembered that she didn't know this man, that he couldn't be trusted. Others had said that they could help her in the past, but they were all lies.

Akiza gave a quick jerk to her arm and was surprised that he had let it go this time. She thought about summoning Rose Tentacles, but decided that she would only do that if he tried to touch her again.

Akiza took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, but I'll decline."

Akiza turned and started to walk away when she felt his arm grab her shoulder. Before he had her completely turned around, she yanked out Rose Tentacles and slapped it on her duel disk. The rose-like monster soon appeared and had Sayer slowly backing away.

Akiza stood her ground as she said, "Don't ever touch me again or you'll regret it."

Sayer held up his hands in surrender and said, "I mean you no harm Akiza. If I did, I would have used my own powers to capture you. I wish to be your friend. Here."

She watched as he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal object. He slowly crouched down and rolled the object over to her. She watched it glint in the light as it came to a stop at her feet.

As she stared at the metal object, she heard him say, "It's a device that will help you control your powers better. Just put it in your hair."

She watched as he turned around and started walking away. After he had taken a few steps, he paused and glanced back over his shoulder. "I'll be back Akiza. I'll give you some time to think about what I've said."

And with that he walked away.

She watched him walk until he was no longer in her sight. She lifted Rose Tentacles from her duel disk, making the monster fade. As she slipped the card back into her deck, she gazed at the metal object that Sayer had given her. He said that it would help her control her powers, but could she believe that?

She cautiously bent over and picked up the item. She gently caressed the item with her fingers as she stood back up. She somehow felt calmer now that it was in her hand. She shrugged as she reached up and rolled a small portion of her hair on the metal object and secured it.

She sighed as she took her deck out of her duel disk and slipped it back into the pouch on her belt.

Something about Sayer didn't feel right.

She rolled her shoulders, hoping all the stress and tension would leave.

She needed to think of a plan. He said he would be back for her. She felt her anger bubbling up as she remembered that.

Was he tracking her or something? How did he know how to find her in the first place?

Akiza started walking down the street as she thought.

He knew where to find her. She had to change that.

An idea suddenly hit Akiza as she walked past the alley she had vacated earlier.

She had to leave New Domino City.

And what place was better to go to than Satellite?

* * *

Kalin laid out the map on the small, scarred table as the rest of the team munched on chips.

Kalin swiped his silver-blue hair out of his eyes as he pointed at a circled spot on the map. "Here, this is the spot."

Crow leaned over where his nose was only a few centimeters from the map and studied the location as he said, "Here? You sure? That place is a dump!"

Kalin snatched the map from under Crow's nose and scowled at him. "Dump or not, this section belongs to the fairy gang."

Jack almost chocked on his chips as the laughter spilled out of his mouth. "Fairy gang? That's their name? That's pathetic!"

Kalin tossed Jack an annoyed look as the blond doubled over in laughter. "Okay guys, even though they're called the fairy gang, they own the zone that was on the map."

By then Crow had joined Jack's laughing while Yusei sat on the old wooden chair.

The Enforcers was the top dueling gang in the Satellite. They dueled against other gangs so they could be the best in Satellite and so they could own all the zones that the gangs they beat had owned. Team Satisfaction's goal was make Satellite a safe place for everyone and to be the best dueling gang known.

Kalin Kessler was the leader of the group. He was the one who brought the team together, so it was only right that he was leader. Yusei Fudo was one of the members. He was one of the better duelers and always kept his cool in tight situations. Then there was Jack and Crow. Jack Atlas always wanted to be the best and didn't like to be bossed around. Crow Hogan was the jokester of the group. He was always the one who made the team laugh, but was fast and serious when he had a job to do.

The team hid out in a little shack that was hidden from view. That way, none of the other gangs could see them, and the team had a place to rest and make plans. There wasn't much in the shack. There was a small table, two wooden chairs, a wooden chest where they stored blankets and food, and a small bathroom that miraculously still worked.

Kalin folded up the map and shoved it into his pocket. "Alright guys, calm down and listen to the plan. Tomorrow, me and Yusei are going to beat the fairy gang while you two get more food."

Jack's jaw dropped as he listened to Kalin's plan. "What? How come just you and Yusei are going? And why am I stuck with Crow?"

Kalin smirked as he shifted his gaze over to Jack and Crow's. "One, because I am the leader and I said so. Two, since you and Crow found the fairy gang so funny, I guess you didn't want to go anyways. And three, we're running out of food. Now that everything's settled, let's get some sleep. We're heading out early tomorrow."

**So, how did you like it?**

**I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! But anyways, leave a review and I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as I can!**


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys are...AWESOME! Seriously though, I never thought that I would get such kind reviews and encouragement! I totally love writing stories for Yugioh 5D's now lol**

**Anyways, your lovely reviews pushed me to work even harder on this story, and so I am now able to give you another chapter sooner than I had planned!**

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last, if not more**

Chapter 2

Akiza looked up at the tall building before her. She pulled out her map that she had stolen a few hours ago and studied the path she had marked. She had studied the map for almost an hour, but the only way she could find that would get her into Satellite was by the garbage chute. Akiza shoved the map back in her pocket as she ran to the side of the building and peeked in the door. She knew that there wouldn't be many workers there, but she was shocked when she noticed that no one was there.

She slid her deck into her duel disk, just in case she needed it, and slowly inched her way inside. She stood and listened for a minute, trying to see where the garbage started. She walked slowly as she followed the noise, prepared to use her deck if someone unexpected came along.

She found what she was looking for quicker than she thought. She watched as all sorts of things fell down the chute. There were simple things like old bikes and toasters, to things like ovens and even parts to a car. Akiza felt her plan coming apart as she watched the items tumble down the chute and collide with the others.

There was no way she could go down there and come out alive!

Akiza frowned as she began to think. There had to be some way she could do this.

She looked up as she heard an exceptionally large item preparing to tumble down the chute. She restored her hopes when she saw the large refrigerator, and before she could change her mind she ran over, pulled open the door, and squeezed herself inside.

She pulled the door shut and held her breath as the refrigerator started tumbling down. Although she was a little scared, she felt her adrenaline rush. She smiled behind the mask, glad to finally be free from the memories that New Domino City had cursed her with.

She didn't know how long she had been in the refrigerator when the movements finally calmed down. She cautiously cracked open the door to see where she was at and noticed that she had stopped moving. She swung the door open and climbed out of the refrigerator, stretching her sore muscles in the process.

She looked back as she started hearing loud noises and noticed that the trash was still coming, so she started walking down the tunnel.

* * *

Kalin stretched and opened his eyes. The sun was just starting to rise, which meant that they had to leave soon. Kalin yawned as he got out of the chair. Since there were only two chairs, they always took turns between sleeping in the chairs and sleeping on the floor. He looked over at Jack slouched down in the chair and shook his head. Jack's mouth was wide open and he was snoring loudly. But if you tried to tell him that, he would call you a bloody liar and punch you in the stomach. Kalin knew because Crow had done it before.

Kalin crouched down and shook Crow and Yusei's shoulders as he said, "Come on, time's wasting."

He waited until their eyes were open, then he got up and moved over to Jack. Kalin also shook Jack's shoulder as he said, "Wake up Sleeping Beauty, its morning."

Jack swatted Kalin's hand and turned his head to the other side. With a frown, Kalin shook Jack a little harder and said, "Come on Jack, we have plans today."

He heard Jack curse under his breath as he blinked open his eyes. Kalin sighed as he walked over to the table where Yusei had laid out some fruit for breakfast. Kalin grabbed an orange and leaned against the wall as he said, "Alright, everyone know what to do?"

Crow rolled his eyes as he popped another grape into his mouth. "Yeah, you and Yusei get to kick butt while I go grocery shopping with drool face over there."

Jack snapped his angry gaze over to Crows as he said, "Shut it birdbrain! I didn't want to be stuck with you either!"

Yusei tossed Jack an apple and said, "Come on guys, I had food duty last time. You'll live, I promise."

Jack caught the apple and bit into it. As he wiped the juice from the apple from his chin, he mumbled, "Easy for you to say. You didn't get stuck with Crow."

Kalin rolled his eyes as he finished off the orange and gazed out the window. He was ready for the fairy gang. He wanted to be the best of the best, even in the low down town of Satellite.

And nothing was going to stop him.

* * *

Akiza didn't know how long she had been walking when she finally found a door on the side of the tunnel.

Finally!

She had almost summoned Rose Tentacles to bust open a whole so she could get out of the smelly tunnel.

She had to put all her strength in it to get the door open, and for a minute she didn't think she was going to be able to get it open. But it slowly creaked open, and after she had it pulled halfway open it whooshed the rest of the way and banged against the wall.

Akiza squinted when she stepped outside, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. When her eyes had finally adjusted, she glanced at her surroundings. Everywhere she looked, as far as the eye could see, was covered in dirt. There wasn't a blade of grass or tree in sight. The only thing she could see was some boulders that were sticking up out of the ground. She squinted her eyes as she saw something odd not too far away.

It was a little shack, and it looked abandoned to her. There were two windows, both busted out, half of the roof looked like it was getting ready to cave in, and the two little steps that led to the door didn't look like it could support a mouse.

Akiza darted her gaze around, looking for any sign of people, and headed towards the shack. This would be the perfect place to stay for a while. No one could possibly see it and she would be all by herself. She reached down and patted the deck attached to her belt, making sure that it was still there. Her deck was the only thing that she had kept from her childhood, but unlike all the other things in her childhood, her deck was her friend.

Although it had been cold last night, today the sun was bright and the temperature was hot. Akiza felt a bead of sweat trickle down her cheek and roll off her chin. Her cloak started sticking to her arms and neck, but could deal with it. She wasn't ready to take off her mask or cloak. She considered them as a kind of security blanket, from strangers and herself. She didn't know if she'd be recognized as the Black Rose Witch or not yet, but she knew it wouldn't be long until she was feared like she was in New Domino City.

She was only a few yards away when she saw the door opening. For a second she just stood there, stunned that someone was getting ready to exit the run-down shack. Before she realized what she was doing, she jumped behind the nearest boulder and crouched down so she couldn't be seen.

After a few seconds, she heard male voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying since she was still too far away. She took a chance and peeked over the rock. There were four young men around her age standing in front of the shack, all wearing matching brown vests. Akiza was surprised when she noticed how handsome they all were. There was a tall, lean man with silver-blue hair. He was standing beside a guy with dark, pointy hair with gold highlights. Standing across from them were two other guys, one with bright, blonde hair, and a shorter guy with spikey orange hair. She watched as the blond nodded, and then he and the orange-haired dude walked away. The guy with silver blue hair then turned to the guy with yellow highlights and said a few words. After the other guy nodded, they both walked away in the opposite direction that the blonde and orange haired guys went.

Akiza stayed behind the boulder until she could no longer see any of the guys. She stood up and leaned against the boulder as she thought out a plan.

Maybe it was better that someone was staying here. At least she would be able to find some food, and maybe a blanket for tonight. Akiza lifted her mask just long enough for her to wipe the sweat off of her face with the sleeve of her cloak. She walked to the shack as she lowered the mask back on her face, feeling good for the lucky change in plans.

* * *

Jack scowled as he walked. Ever since they had left, Crow had babbled nonstop over the dumbest things.

What did he care about stuffed animals for?

Jack rolled his eyes as he reached to grab his deck, deciding that he would go through his cards on the walk, when he suddenly stopped.

He lifted his shirt as he double-checked his pouch for his deck. Swearing under his breath, he reached forward and grabbed Crow's arm and spun him around.

"I forgot my deck, we gotta go back."

He watched Crow roll his eyes as he whined, "Why? We'll only be gone a few minutes."

Jack grabbed his arm as he headed back to the shack, pulling Crow along behind him. "I don't care if we'll only be gone a few seconds. I'm not leaving my deck. Someone could break in and steal it."

He heard Crow snort as he jerked his arm free. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen."

* * *

Akiza slowly walked up the stairs, hoping that they wouldn't cave in when she placed all of her weight on them. She was surprised that they did, and took a deep breath of relief as she pushed the door open. The door was so easily opened, that a weak wind could've blown the door off its hinges. Akiza stuck her head in first, making sure that no one else was still in the shack. After a quick glance, she stepped inside, sure that she would have seen anyone still in there.

The shack was as small as she thought it would be. There was a small bedroom off to the side, but it was full of debris and trash. There wasn't much furniture either. There was a wooden chest, two chairs that looked like they had been through a war, and a wooden table that was missing a leg.

Akiza walked over to the chest that was sitting against the wall on the far side of the room and carefully pulled it open. She smiled when she saw the different types of fruit scattered on top and the blankets that were folded underneath them. She reached in and grabbed a couple apples, some grapes, and an orange. She shoved what was left aside as she pulled out a dark blue blanket and spread it open on the floor. She gently laid the fruit in the middle of the blanket, then tied the blanket together and hefted it over her shoulder.

She quickly scanned the room one more time and decided that she should leave. She paused as she walked to the door and slowly turned when something caught her eye. She lowered the tied blanket to the floor and crouched down beside one of the chairs. Lying on the floor were scattered cards. Curiosity overcame Akiza as she lifted the closest one and inspected it.

She gasped as she saw the monster. It was Red Dragon Archfeind! She paused as she realized that the guys who had come out of the shack were duelists. They weren't normal duelists either. Normal duelists didn't have strong cards like this.

"What the-"

Akiza gasped as she dropped the card as spun around. Akiza's heart dropped as she recognized these guys as two of the ones who came out of the shack earlier. The orange-haired guy had a stunned look on his face with his mouth hanging open, but the blonde quickly masked his shock with rage. Akiza quickly stood and reached for her deck, but the blonde grabbed both her arms and held them in one hand. Akiza tried to yank them free, but it was no use. His hand was like an iron clamp.

Akiza struggled to get her hand to reach her deck. If she could only reach Rose Tentacles…..

She was brought out of her thoughts as Jack yelled, "Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you find this place? What gang are you from?"

She heard a snort from behind him and watched as the orange-haired man walked up beside him. "You're doing an excellent job of questioning her, but how do you expect her to answer if you won't stop talking?"

She watched as the orange-haired guy turned a puzzled look on her as his eyes traveled the length of her body. "Uh, you are a girl, right?"

Akiza felt the hot blush stain her cheeks as panic filled every corner of her body.

How would she get out of this one?

**Okay! That's chapter two!**

**Now, answering some of the reviews. **

**1. Don't worry, Yusei will definately be a big part in this story, and I promise that he will show up soon!**

**2. I never ever give up on a story! Even if I'm really not into it, I will never leave a story incomplete and will give it my all. So don't worry, I shall continue writing!**

**3. Some things are slightly different than the show, but I stuck to the main stuff. You'll see how I changed it up a bit in later chapters, but I promise that I didn't make major changes. **

**4. Although I try to update as soon as possible, you guys try to be patient with me. I go to school, just like most of you, and I have two other stories that I'm also working on. New story ideas are always coming to me (compliments to my large imagination) and I always have an whim at odd times to start another story...but I'm trying to resist that whim until I have some of my stories that I've already started completed!**

**Alright then, that's all I have to say! **

**Please leave a review! Reviews encourage me more and gets the story out faster :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, I'm finally getting chapter 3 out there!**

**I hope you guys aren't dissappointed for the wait. It's just with school and everything, it's hard to find spare time to write!**

**Anyways, here's chapter three!**

Chapter 3

Akiza concentrated on taking deep breaths as the orange-haired guy cocked his head at her. "Well, my guess says it's a girl."

She watched the blonde roll his eyes in irritation as he snapped, "Of course it's a girl you twit! God, you're blind as well as stupid!"

She watched the blonde narrow his eyes as he looked back at her. "You've got a lot of questions to answer, but we'll take them one at a time. First, who are you?"

Akiza decided that silence was the key and just kept her mouth shut. She saw the patience draining from his face with each passing second until he shook her arms and yelled in her face, "Answer me worm!"

Akiza felt her teeth rattle and knew she'd have bruises on her arms from his hands. Before Jack could do anything else though, Crow was holding up her tied blanket.

"Hey Jack, looks like we got a thief."

She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she saw the guy called Jack's face go red with anger. "Trying to steal from us, huh? Well, we'll show you!"

With a quick shove, Akiza was on the floor. Her head had hit the chair behind her and made her see stars for a second. Before she could even think about reaching for her deck, the blonde had grabbed her arm again and jerked her up. She felt the muscles pull in her shoulder and she gasped in pain. She saw the orange-haired guy run up and put a restraining arm on the blonde as he said, "Jeez Jack, take it easy! She's a girl!"

The guy called Jack tightened the grip on her arm and made her eyes water in pain. "She's nothing but a thief! You saw her Crow!"

The one called Crow scowled as he said, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you gotta rip her arms off!"

Jack took a deep breath to calm himself. He loosened his grip on Akiza's wrist and rubbed his hand down his face. "Alright, I see your point. Fine. Go get some rope from the chest, we're gonna tie her to the chair until we get some answers."

Akiza watched as Crow sighed and went to get the rope. Akiza's panic doubled as she desperately sought an escape. She couldn't get away by using her powers because Jack still had a death grip on her wrists. She decided that keeping quiet would be best. The less they knew, the better. Akiza decided that she would have to just try and get her arm free so she could reach her deck.

With a courageous breath, Akiza pulled back her foot as far as it would go and kicked him with every ounce of strength in her body. She watched with satisfaction as he yelled with pain and reached down to rub his throbbing shin. She was disappointed though when she realized that he hadn't let go of her arm in the process. Actually, he had tightened his grip instead, and the pain was so strong that it brought her to her knees with another gasp of pain. She bit her bottom lip to keep herself from crying out in pain.

By then, Crow had run over to where Jack and Akiza were on the floor. Crow didn't know what to do. Jack was howling with pain and rubbing his shin while the girl was sitting on the floor, desperately trying to free her arm.

Akiza was sure that her arm would snap any second. She had even grown so desperate as to try and pry his fingers away with her other hand. A sob somehow found its way out of her mouth.

Crow heard the muffled sob escape the girl, and he suddenly felt real bad for her. Crow crouched down and grabbed Akiza's arm and looked over at Jack. "I got her Jack. Let her go. You're gonna break her arm."

Jack looked up at Crow with a red face as he said in a strained voice, "She'll be lucky if that's all I break!"

But Jack released her arm and clutched at his bruising shin with both hands.

Akiza gasped as he released her arm and she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She rolled her lips inward and took deep breaths to keep herself from crying.

The Black Rose Witch did not cry!

Akiza felt herself being gently pushed into a chair, and before she could remember what they were going to do to her, Crow was already tying her up. At least he didn't tie her hands together. She didn't think she could even lift her arm if he had asked her to.

By the time she was tied in the chair, Jack was standing in front of her. Her arm had already gone numb, and for that she was thankful. Her eyes had dried up, and the panic that had controlled her body earlier was replaced by a blazing rage.

She watched as Jack pulled up the other chair in front of her and sat down. He still looked extremely angry, but not as angry as when she had kicked him.

Jack took a deep breath and said, "Now that you've tried your escape, you're gonna talk. Now back to my original question, who are you?"

Akiza glared at him, but of course he wouldn't know that because of her mask. She flinched when he slammed a fist down on the poor table as he yelled, "Answer me! I'm tired of these games! This is the last time I'll ask you nicely, now who are you?"

Akiza wanted nothing more to yell and scream at him, but she knew that's exactly what he wanted, so she kept quiet. She watched as Crow stood in between her and Jack, obviously trying to keep Jack's temper from erupting, as he stared at her.

She watched as Crow knitted his eyebrows together and asked, "What's the mask for? And the cloak? Are you so ugly that you have to hide your face?"

Akiza felt the blush stain her cheeks again, but this one was from anger more than embarrassment. When she didn't answer him, he shrugged and said, "Oh well, I guess I'll have to figure out myself."

Akiza saw him reach forward, and in a panic she jerked her head back and yelled, "No, don't!"

She watched as surprise flickered over Crow and Jack's faces. She was glad when she saw Crow's hand drop back down to his side as his eyebrows shot up. "So, you do talk."

Akiza figured she might as well talk. "Yes, I do."

She watched Jack shove Crow out of the way as he focused on her. "Finally. Now, who are you?"

Akiza's anger was still boiling close to the surface as she said, "I am the Black Rose Witch! And if you know what's best for you, you'll let me go at once!"

She watched as the anger quickly left Jack's face and amusement replaced it. His lips twitched up into a smile as he said, "You….a witch? Oh boy. Now, stop with these lies and tell me the truth. Who are you? What's your name?"

Akiza sat stunned for a moment. Never in her life had anyone been amused when she had told them who she was. He had almost even made a joke out of it.

Akiza cleared her mind of those thoughts and focused on the questions Jack was asking her. "I told you, I am the Black Rose Witch, and that's the only name I go by now."

She watched as Crow leaned against the wall as he asked, "Well then, what name did you used to go by?"

Akiza felt the pain in her chest as she thought about how her life was before her parents had sent her away. "I told you that it doesn't matter! I am now the Black Rose Witch! Release me now!"

Jack leaned back in his chair as he said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think you're in the position to be demanding things right now. Alright then Black Rose Witch, what gang are you from?"

Akiza felt irritation mix with the anger as she said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I belong to no such thing."

She saw Jack roll his eyes as he pointed to her duel disk. "Yeah, and I bet you're wearing that because it's very stylish."

Akiza felt her temper breaking as she hissed, "I said I don't belong to a gang, and I'm not a liar! I may be a lot of things, but a liar's not one of them!"

She saw irritation snap in Jacks eyes as he pointed to her duel disk again and asked, "If you don't duel for a gang, then what are you doing with a duel disk attached to your arm?"

Akiza gritted her teeth as she answered, "I duel for my own purposes."

Jack seemed temporarily satisfied with her answer, so he asked another question. "What are you doing here?"

Akiza struggled to control her temper as she took a deep breath and said, "I didn't know anyone was staying here. The place was empty when I walked in, and I was hungry, so I decided that I could maybe take some fruit."

She watched from the corner of her eye as Crow untied the blanket and opened it up.

He looked up at Jack and said, "She's telling the truth. There's nothing in here but food."

Jack nodded as he leaned back in his chair again. "Alright, next question. How did you find this place?"

Akiza decided that she might as well give him the whole truth. "I found it on accident. I was walking down the garbage tunnel when I finally found a door. When I opened the door, there was the shack."

Jack burrowed his brows together in thought as he asked, "Why were you walking through there?"

Akiza sighed as she said, "I don't believe that's any of your business."

She watched as Jack thought for a minute then shrugged as he stood up. She watched as he limped over to the window and looked out. She turned her head and saw Crow putting the fruit back in the chest and then folded the blanket. Akiza snapped her gaze back to Jack's and said, "Now that I've answered your questions, let me go."

Jack didn't even bother to look her way as he said, "You're not going anywhere until Kalin gets back. I still don't believe you are who you say you are, and Kalin will recognize you if you're from another gang."

Akiza's temper flared once again as she said, "I told you that I wasn't in a gang! Let me go now, and I promise to not hurt you."

Jack did look at her now. He looked annoyed as he bent down and rubbed his sore shin. "Too late for that, so I guess you'll just have to wait."

Akiza's temper snapped and she felt her powers ripple through her body as she yelled, "Just you wait until I'm out of this chair! I'll show you the power of the Black Rose Witch! You'll be the first to die!"

Jack snorted as he returned his gaze to the window. "Yeah, I'm getting ready to die from a witch. Can my day get any more exciting?"

Akiza hated the sarcasm dripping in his voice. She took deep breaths, desperately trying to calm her temper. If she didn't get her temper under control soon, her powers would take control of her mind.

She was brought out of her thoughts when an apple was shoved under her masked nose. She slowly looked up into the smiling face of Crow.

She felt puzzled and absurdly touched as he held the apple out to her and said, "Here, I know you're hungry."

Akiza dumbly reached out as far as her good arm would go and took the apple, surprised at his generosity. She quickly shook off the feeling though when she realized that he wouldn't be nice to her when he figured out that she was a monster.

Akiza stared at the apple lying on her lap. To eat it, she had to take off her mask. Should she? She was hungry, but she never let anyone see her face. Could she even reach her mouth? Although they didn't tie her arms together, they were still wrapped tightly against her body and wouldn't move much.

She was saved from the decision when Jack turned around. He looked at her, then his gaze jumped over to Crow's. "They're back."

Crow nodded as he stepped forward to stand beside the door, ready to greet Kalin and Yusei.

Akiza dropped her head against the back of the chair in exhaustion. Now she had to go through the other two.

Oh well. Maybe after the man named Kalin that Jack had mentioned told them that she wasn't from a gang, she would be set free.

And then she would show them the power of the Black Rose Witch! Starting with the blond named Jack!

**Alright! That's the end of chapter three! I hope everyone is satisfied so far, and if not...well, I just hope everyone's satisfied! :)**

**I've come to realize that I absolutely love writing this story! Especially Crow and Jack. I'm sure I don't give the characters justice with the way I write them, but they're probably my favorites to write for right now.**

**Okay, now to answer some of your reviews:**

**1. Sorry about any grammer mistakes! I've read over the chapters and everything, but every once in a while something will slip my notice, but hopefully the grammer mistakes aren't so bad.**

**2. Yusei lovers have no fear, for he will be entering in the next chapter (which is obvious because of how I ended this chapter)**

**3. About Akiza's mask...I don't really want to give anything away, but I will say that she eventually takes it off. The mask, for her, is like an escape from the real world. When she has on the mask, it's like she takes on a new identity that enforces her powers...but I won't say anything else because Akiza shall reveal more later on in the story!**

**And I belive that was it!**

**I really hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, because as a writer, it is my single desire to entertain and please the readers.**

**Anyways, please leave a review and I'll try and get the next chapter out soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I have finally gotten out the next chapter!**

**I didn't get as many reviews last chapter as I've been getting...but maybe I'll get alot this chapter because Yusei is officially entering the story!**

**Well, enough of my ramblings. Enjoy chapter 4!**

Chapter 4

Akiza watched as the door flew open and the other two guys that she had seen earlier walked in. At first neither one saw her. She guessed it was because Crow was standing in front of her, blocking her from view.

She heard the guy with the silver blue hair questioned Crow. "So, what did you get for lunch?"

A glint of frustration shone in Jack's eyes as he faced the newly arrived members of The Enforcers. "Well Kalin, me and Crow never made the trip."

She then heard a brief pause, then the one called Kalin yell, "What? Why? You were supposed to go and get food!"

She heard Jack sigh and state in a clearly agitated voice, "We were on our way when I realized that I forgot my deck. I demanded to Crow that we come back and get it. And it's a good thing we came back too, or the little food that we did have would be long gone by now."

There was another small silence, then she heard Kalin's puzzled voice ask, "What do you mean by that?"

Crow sighed as he stepped aside, revealing Akiza to the remaining two of the group. She watched surprise flicker over both of their handsome faces.

As Kalin and the one with the yellow highlights stared at her, Jack said, "We found her in the shack. She had tied up some food in a blanket and was getting ready to split when we walked in. She has a duel disk attached to her arm, yet she claims that she isn't part of a gang. I thought maybe you'd like to take a look at her, see if you recognize her."

She watched as Kalin nodded, then walked up to her and crouched down until their gazes met through the slits on her mask. He reached out his hand to take off her mask, and like she did with Crow, she jerked her head back and yelled, "Don't!"

She watched Kalin's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Then he started whispering to her gently as he would to a wounded animal. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

Akiza closed her eyes as he reached for her mask again. She felt the plastic being lifted from her face, and soon felt the cool air against her warm cheeks. When it had been silent for a while, she slowly opened her eyes.

Kalin had leaned back with his eyes wide open, her mask still clutched in his hand. She looked up and saw that Crow's jaw was hanging wide open with his eyes bugging out of his head. Jack's mouth was opened slightly and his eyebrows had shot up into his hairline. She glanced over at the guy that still remained nameless and was lost for a second in those beautiful blue eyes. His eyes had widened a bit, but he controlled his reactions better than his friends had.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Crow cleared his throat and said, "Whoa. Definitely not ugly."

She watched as Jack walked towards her as he asked, "Why do you wear a mask and cloak when you look like that?"

She fought the blush that wanted to crawl up her neck and bloom on her cheeks. She watched as Kalin blinked a few times, then say, "Well, I definitely haven't seen her before. And trust me, I would remember someone that looked like that."

Akiza felt her anger stirring up inside her again. She hated it when people gawked at her! She gritted her teeth in frustration as they continued to stare at her.

She took a deep breath, then said through clenched teeth, "Now that you know that I'm not from a gang, let me go."

Before Kalin could reach for the rope binding her to the chair though, Jack pushed him out of the way and stood in front of her. "You're trying to tell me you're a witch?"

She saw Kalin's gaze snap over to Jack's as surprise colored his features again. "What? Are you blind? Look at her! She's no witch!"

Akiza blinked in surprise. That was the first time that someone had defended her from such remarks. But she shook the thought away when she remembered that they didn't know about her yet.

Akiza looked up at Kalin and calmly stated, "It's true. I am the Black Rose Witch. Now release me, and I promise to let you live."

She was shocked and angered when Kalin, Jack, and Crow began laughing. She felt her jaw drop open. No one had ever laughed at her before. She heard a noise and looked up as the guy with the gorgeous blue eyes walked up to her and squatted down so that their faces were on the same level.

He gave her an encouraging smile and said in a smooth voice, "I'm Yusei. You'll have to excuse the rest of the gang, but I'm finding what you said a little bizarre myself. Why do you say you're a witch?"

Akiza felt her anger melt away as she gazed up into those beautiful eyes. They were almost hypnotizing, and for some reason they seemed to calm her. "I only call myself what other's have named me."

She saw his eyebrows burrow in thought as he asked, "Do you mean to say that other people call you a witch?"

Akiza replied, "Yes, ever since I can remember. I've been called a witch, monster, freak, and many other things."

Yusei found it hard to believe that this beautiful girl could be associated with any of those names. "Why do they call you that?"

Akiza shrugged and turned her head so that she was looking at a molded wall. "People are scared of me because I have powers that they've never seen before. Powers that end up hurting people."

By that time, Kalin, Jack, and Crow had stopped laughing and were now listening to their conversation with interest.

Yusei's eyebrow's shot up in surprise as he asked, "Powers? What kind of powers?"

Akiza sighed and said, "When I summon a duel monster, it's like I summon an alive monster. And when I inflict damage, the damage is real. People feel the pain I deliver, and most of the time I hurt people really bad. Someone told me that I was a psychic duelist."

Kalin walked over and crouched down beside Yusei as an idea came into his head. "Really? That's interesting. Can you use these powers outside of duels?"

Akiza hesitated for a moment, then nodded her head as she said, "Yes, as long as I have my duel disk and deck."

Kalin's face lit up with a smile as he said, "Interesting."

Yusei cocked his head to the side as his eyes traveled the length of her small body. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Akiza returned her gaze to Yusei's as she said, "No. I came from New Domino City."

Jack jerked his head back in surprise as he said, "So that's why you were walking down there with the garbage. But why did you leave there to come here?"

Akiza gritted her teeth as she said, "I told you that it was none of your business. Now please, let me go."

Yusei reached for the rope to untie her, but was stopped when Kalin forcefully grabbed Yusei's arm. "Hold on Yusei. I have a better idea for her."

Yusei felt a quick stab of anger as he looked into Kalin's eyes. "We can't just keep her tied to a chair, Kalin."

Kalin snapped his gaze to Yusei's as he felt his anger boiling inside of him. His golden eyes blazed with rage as he stared down the angered man beside him. "I'm the leader, and I say leave her there! Besides, how do we know she won't attack us as soon as we let her go?"

Yusei fought the rage that wanted to surface as he said, "We don't, but she can't stay tied to a chair forever. She's probably hungry, scared, and hurt."

Akiza heard Jack snort and quickly turned an angry gaze to him. She heard him say, "Please. She may be hungry, but she fought me like a wildcat a few minutes ago, so she's not scared. And she's been tied to the chair, so she's not hurt."

Akiza gasped in surprise, then yelled, "You liar! You almost broke my arm! I'll have bruises for a month!"

She saw a little regret cloud his violet eyes as he lowered his gaze to the floor. She felt a tugging on her arm and looked over to see Yusei gently pulling her arm out from under the rope. She winced when he lifted it and she felt tears pool in her eyes. She hated looking so helpless!

She watched as Yusei gently grabbed the edge of her cloak and slowly slid it up her arm, then gently pulled her glove down. She watched as several emotions flickered over Yusei's face. First was shock, then was pain and pity, but all of those were replaced by a deep anger. She looked down at her arm and gasped in surprise.

Her arm looked hideous! It was covered in purple and blue, some areas darker than others. Her arm was already starting to swell, and the throbbing was almost more than she could bear. She saw Yusei lightly feather his fingers over her arm, then watched as he lifted his rage filled eyes to Jack.

Yusei didn't even try to hide the anger in his voice when he shouted, "What did you do to her? Look at her arm!"

She expected Jack to lash back out at Yusei, but was surprised when he lifted sorrowful eyes to gaze at her discolored arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I had hurt her that bad, I was just mad because she was stealing our stuff. And then she kicked me, which made me angrier, and….I'm sorry."

Akiza had never been apologized to before. Actually, these guys were treating her like she had never been treated before! And they knew what she was! She almost felt like a normal person again.

She didn't even know what she was doing when she said, "It's okay, it'll heal. I'm sorry I kicked you."

She didn't know who was more surprised by her apology, Jack or herself. She had never apologized to anyone, especially someone who had hurt her. But something about these guys made her feel normal, like they were different from everyone else.

She switched her gaze back to Yusei as he said, "I don't know what we're going to do about your arm. We don't have any ice to bring down the swelling and we don't have any kind of pain medication. You should probably see a doctor."

Akiza felt the panic bubble inside of her as she painfully jerked her arm out of Yusei's grip. "No! I'll be fine. I've had worse."

She looked over when she heard Crow's surprised voice ask, "You've had worse than that?"

Actually, this was the first time that she had been physically hurt by someone. No one had ever been brave enough, or had gotten close enough, to hurt her.

As she shoved her sleeve back down, she said, "It doesn't matter anyways. No doctor would see me. I'll be fine."

Yusei looked like he was going to argue with her, but instead got up and walked behind her chair. She saw Kalin spring up and grab Yusei's arm, once again stopping him from freeing their prisoner, as he angrily hissed, "What are you doing? I told you to leave her as she is!"

As Yusei yanked his arm from Kalin's grip he said, "Look at her! She can't stay tied up to a chair forever. She said if we let her go that she wouldn't hurt us."

Akiza turned her head enough so that she could see Kalin and Yusei glaring at each other. She broke the glare when she said, "I promise I won't hurt anyone, just let me go."

She saw Kalin look at her suspiciously and desperately tried to keep her anger from her voice as she said, "Look, I told your blonde friend that I wasn't a liar. I've been called many things in my life, but the one thing I've never been called is a liar."

Kalin sighed in defeat as he mumbled, "Fine, let her go."

She felt the slight tugging on the rope where Yusei was untying her, then felt relief when the ropes slid down to the floor. She sat there for a second, unsure of what to do. Before she could say anything, Yusei knelt before her and said, "Here, take off your cloak. I'm sure you must be hot, and then I'll be able to get a better look at your arm."

Akiza hesitated for a moment, then slowly pulled the cloak down her arms. She watched as it pooled on the floor. She looked up and felt her anger rise when she saw the four guys gawking at her again.

She felt the blush warm her cheeks as she impatiently snapped, "Could you stop staring at me like that? It's rude!"

All four of them blushed at her remark. They couldn't help it, they had never seen anyone like her before. Although she had called herself a witch, she certainly didn't look like one with her Victorian clothes. She was just so beautiful.

Akiza didn't know what was going to happen, but she had a lot to figure out.

**Alright! And that brings an end to chapter 4! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far!**

**Now, to answer some reviews:**

**1. I am terribly flattered on everyone's encouragement! If you're a writer, then you understand exactly what I mean when I say that there is nothing greater than getting encouragement and kind words from your readers. Thank you so much!**

**2. I don't mean to do cliffhangers...but that's just how I end up writing it! I think that a good cliffhanger always keeps your readers coming back for more, which is perfect for a writer that wants their story to continue to be read. Well, this chapter didn't really have a cliffhanger ending, but I hope you still come back for more! :)**

**3. I'm glad you enjoyed Jack and Crow. I was a little bit nervous when I started writing them, but I feel better now knowing that most of you enjoyed the playful banter between Jack and Crow. I just love those characters!**

**4. Yes, Yusei is now officially a big part of the story from now on! I'm sure most of my readers are extremely happy, since alot of my reviews were asking when he's make his entrance. Well, here he is!**

**5. I do plan on having alot of fluff between Yusei and Akiza, and I think this chapter has some, but there will be more later on in the story. I want to be sure that my story has a nice balance between the different aspects, so that it doesn't seem like just fluff...but trust me, I am a HUGE Yusei and Akiza fan, and there WILL be fluff! :)**

**Okay! That's it for now!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I shall eagerly await your wonderful reviews! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, finally got up the next chapter!**

**Sorry it took a while, but I've been trying to finish some of my other stories so I could have more time for this one. I will definately think twice before having more than one story at a time again!**

**Anyways, here's the newest chapter of Living My Freedom! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Kalin bent down and grabbed her discarded cloak as Yusei got a closer look at her arm. He lifted her arm slightly, but stopped when she gave a gasp of pain.

He looked up into her teary eyes and said, "Did that hurt?"

Akiza didn't trust her voice yet, so she just nodded. She watched as he carefully rubbed his fingers on her arm. She felt a tug on her heart as she realized that he was the first person, that she could remember, who knew who and what she was, and still treated her like she was she was fragile glass. Kalin handed Jack her cloak as Crow cut an old blanket in half.

Yusei pulled her fingerless glove off and pushed her sleeve up. She gazed at her arm, stunned at the damage that it presented. With her glove gone, her arm looked even worse. Before she could think of something to do, Kalin was kneeling beside Yusei and was smiling at her. She didn't smile back, instead she kept a blank face as she looked at him.

Kalin smiled and said, "As I said earlier, I have an idea that involves you Black Rose Witch."

Yusei glanced up at Kalin and said, "Stop calling her that. She's not a witch."

Yusei saw the surprise flicker on her face and was puzzled. Did she really think of herself as a witch?

Kalin shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter, we have nothing else to call her."

Yusei scowled as he took the scrap of blanket that Crow offered him. "It does matter. She's a human being, just like the rest of us."

Akiza was stunned and touched. It had been so long since she had been called a human being. She was always called a witch or freak, but hearing him call her a human being made her feel like she meant something.

Yusei looked into her eyes as he said, "What's your name, your real name?"

Akiza hesitated for a moment, but instead of answering his question she asked one herself. "Why are you doing this? Don't you understand what I am? I could hurt you."

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked over at Akiza. Yusei looked up into her eyes and something gripped his heart. She looked so alone, so scared. He was surprised to see that she was honestly confused about why he was helping her.

Yusei gazed into her face as he said, "I'm doing this because I know you're not a witch. You're lost, scared, alone, hurt, and sad, but all those just make you human. And yes, I understand completely that you could hurt us, but if you had that in mind you would have done it as soon as the rope was gone. We want to help you, be your friend."

Akiza listened as he spoke. She couldn't believe that everything he said about her was true. And even though he knew about her powers, he still wanted to be her friend.

Akiza swallowed past the lump in her throat, and then answered his original question. "My name is Akiza."

She watched as Yusei's mouth tilted up into a small smile as he said, "Akiza, that's a nice name. Now Akiza, I'm gonna make a sling for your arm. This may hurt a little."

Akiza bit her lower lip as Yusei placed the sling behind her neck and lifted her arm to gently place it in the folds of the blanket. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the tears stayed in her eyes. She gasped when her arm finally rested in the sling and started taking deep breaths.

She opened her eyes to see Yusei's concerned look as he said, "Is that the only thing that hurts?"

Akiza lifted her good arm to rub the back of her head as she remembered that she had hit the chair pretty hard when Jack had shoved her to the floor. "I think I have a knot on the back of my head, but it's okay. My arm hurts the most."

She saw Jack wince as she said that, then walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. She knew Yusei was getting ready to ask her where the knot had come from, but Kalin nudged his out of the way as he stepped in front of her.

Kalin smiled at her as he said, "Like I was saying, I have an idea that involves you Akiza."

Akiza didn't know what it was about him, but she had the same feeling about him that she had for Sayer. "What do you mean?"

Kalin knelt on the floor in front of her as he said, "As you have probably figured out by now, we make up the gang known as The Enforcers. There are several gangs in Satellite, and each gang controls certain areas. Our goal is to defeat all the gangs and make all of Satellite ours. And Akiza, with your powers on our side, we would be undefeatable."

Akiza didn't know what he was trying to say, and she didn't know if she'd like it or not. "What are you saying?"

Kalin smiled and patted her good hand as he said, "I want you to stay with us Akiza, be part of our team."

Akiza jerked her hand out from under his as her anger snapped. "I knew it! You were just being nice to me so you could use me!"

Kalin staggered backwards as Akiza shot out of her chair. "No! You have it all wrong!"

Akiza felt betrayed and hurt as she took a step back. "Do I? The only reason you were nice to me is because you know about my powers and you want to use me! Well it won't work, because I have been used for the last time!"

Akiza reached behind her neck and untied the sling. Her arm jerked down to her side as the ripped blanket fell to the floor. Akiza cried out in pain and clutched at her arm. Yusei took a step towards her, but she took a step back as she yelled, "Stay back! Stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you, but I will!"

Yusei held up his hands as he said, "You've got it all wrong Akiza. We just want to help you."

Akiza squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as she said, "No you don't! That was the last thing my parents said before they sent me away! You don't care about me, just like they didn't!"

Akiza ran over to the table and grabbed her cloak and mask in her good hand, then turned around and headed towards the door. She felt a hand grab her shoulder, so she jerked her shoulder out from under the hand and grabbed a card from her deck with trembling fingers. She whirled around as she placed the card on her duel disk. Her arm shook with the effort and screamed in pain when she lifted it, but she didn't care. She couldn't feel the pain past the hurt.

Kalin released her shoulder and stepped back as Rose Tentacles appeared before him.

Akiza placed the mask on her face as she said, "If you so much as take another step towards me, I'll make sure that it'll be your last!"

Yusei braced himself as he took a small step forward and said, "Please Akiza, you've got it all wrong. We don't want to hurt you, and you don't have to join the team, but please….you're hurt and you have no place to go. At least stay the night here."

Although he couldn't see her face because of the mask, he saw her body relaxing and knew he must be getting to her. "Please Akiza, I want to be your friend. Let me help you."

He watched as she lifted her trembling arm to her duel disk and removed the card. Everyone gave a sigh of relief as she stuck it back in her deck. Akiza reached up with her good arm and pulled the mask off her face and dropped it on the floor.

Yusei walked up to her as she lifted her pale face and he saw her lips slightly tremble. He smiled as he wiped away the single tear rolling down her cheek. "It's okay Akiza, I won't hurt you."

He watched the hope come into her eyes as she asked in a small voice, "Promise?"

He smiled as he gently guided her back to the chair she had just been sitting in. "I promise."

She watched him with tired eyes as he picked up the discarded sling and tied it back together, preparing to slip it back over her head. As Yusei tied the knots, Crow stepped up beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly from the contact, but he kept his hand on her.

She looked up into his smiling face as he said, "I promise you this, after seeing that monster I'll never be able to look at a rose the same way again."

Akiza couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face. She didn't know that her smile softened her face and made her look even prettier, but the guys did.

Her gaze went back to Yusei's as he said, "Alright, let's get this back on."

As he lifted her arm again, she curled her lips inward and curled her good hand into a fist. Taking off the sling the way she did had definitely not helped her arm. She knew she shouldn't have taken it off, but she had been too angry and hurt to think about what she was doing.

She looked down at Yusei and felt ashamed as she said, "I'm so sorry for overreacting. I know I acted stupid and I-"

She was cut off from her apology as Yusei reached up and grabbed her good hand in his and said, "It's okay Akiza. We understand. You have nothing to apologize for."

Before anything else could be said, Jack came out of the bathroom. He looked at all the faces staring at him and snapped in irritation, "What? Do I have tissue stuck to my foot or something?"

Crow rolled his eyes and sat down in the other chair. "You only missed Akiza summon this huge rose monster with all these tentacles as she threatened to kill us all."

Jack's jaw dropped as he snapped his eyes to where Akiza sat in the chair, right where she was before he had gone to the bathroom. Jack rolled his eyes and walked over to the chest to get something to eat as he said, "Yeah, right. What do I look like, a moron?"

Crow shrugged and smiled as he leaned back in his chair, deciding that it would be best to keep his answer to himself.

Kalin walked over and plucked the orange out of Jack's hands right before he bit into it and said, "Sorry, but if you want to eat you have to bring home some food. You've wasted half of the day already, so I suggest you and Crow go ahead and leave now if you want to be back before it gets dark."

Jack scowled as Crow sighed and grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's bring home the bacon."

Akiza watched as the two exited the shack and slam the door behind them. Kalin sat in the other chair as Yusei handed her the apple that had fallen off her lap when she had stood up.

Akiza looked up at him as she grabbed the apple and said, "Thank you."

Kalin felt a little irritated that Akiza was responding so well to Yusei, but she had freaked out when he had spoken to her.

He was the leader, so he should be the one she liked!

As he strummed his fingers against the armrest, he said, "So Akiza, why did you come to Satellite?"

Akiza stopped chewing for a minute, surprised at his question. She swallowed the bite of apple loudly and stared at the floor. "Does it matter?"

Yusei answered before Kalin could say anything. "No, it doesn't."

Kalin's temper snapped as he fixed his angered gaze on Yusei and said, "Actually it does. I mean, you come to Satellite willingly from New Domino City, something that has never happened before, try to steal from complete strangers, and then claim to have these awesome powers that make you dangerous."

Akiza tightened her grip on the apple as annoyance and anger fought to take over. "I just couldn't stay in New Domino City anymore, okay?"

Kalin stood up as he said, "No, that's not okay. Why couldn't you stay there? Is Security after you? Did you kill someone?"

Yusei felt his own temper flare, something that usually never happened, as he stood in between Akiza and Kalin he said, "Kalin, that's enough!"

Kalin shoved Yusei aside as he said, "No, it's not! Think about it Yusei! If Security's after her, what do you think will happen to us when they find out that she's staying here? And if she killed someone in New Domino City, what makes you think she won't murder us while we're asleep?"

Yusei gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright Kalin, I said that's enough!"

Akiza stood up and yelled, "Stop! This is stupid! If you didn't want me around, you should have just let me leave when I tried to!"

Yusei grabbed her good hand and said, "No Akiza, don't go. I don't know what's up with Kalin, but I want you to stay. I promised that I wouldn't hurt you, and I intend on keeping that promise."

Akiza took a deep breath, then snapped her angry gaze to Kalin's as she said, "Fine, but just so you'll know, I don't have Security after me. And no, I've never killed anyone in my entire life even though I have put people in the hospital before. There, anymore questions?"

Kalin's temper rose as he yelled, "If all of that's true, then why did you leave New Domino City?"

Akiza felt her temper rise, then suddenly disappear from the overwhelming grief and pain she felt. She lowered her gaze to the floor as she asked in a quiet voice, "Would you want to be at a place where everyone thinks you're a monster?"

After it was silent for a few seconds, Akiza pulled her hand out of Yusei's and walked out of the shack. She walked over to the nearest boulder and sank down to the ground, using the large rock as a backrest. She pulled her knees into her chest and laid her forehead against her knees. She took deep breaths as she told herself that she wouldn't cry.

She kept repeating that to herself as she felt the tears silently stream down her face.

**And that's it! :)**

**Now to answer some reviews:**

**1. I'm so glad that you guys are excited about Yusei and Akiza! They're my favorite couple, and I'm literally forcing myself to not throw them together as soon as possible. But I just can't help it! Others writers know what I mean when I say that sometimes the story just writes itself.**

**2. Yes, the guys oogled over Akiza. I couldn't help it...I just had to throw that in. I mean, they've been living in Satellite, hanging out with only each other...I'm pretty sure any guy under those standards would gawk at a pretty girl. I also love flattering Akiza a little bit too :)**

**3. Kalin...I've kinda got mixed responses about him. Most of you like him, and think he's perfectly fine, but some people believe he's a little OOC. Well...I personally see Kalin as the type of guy why looks out for number one (himself), and would do anything to reach his goals. He would hate whatever messed up his plans. Maybe I tweaked him a little to make him seem slightly darker, but overall I think he fits his character quite well. Anyways, he has to be like this because of one of the goals in my story. You will understand later on in the story. So I hope I didn't upset anyone over Kalin's character, but it can't be changed.**

**4. One of my reviewers said something about Jack getting kicked in "the place"...eh? I was totally and completely lost when I read this. If it's 'the place' that I'm thinking about, then maybe you should go back and re-read that chapter. Jack was kicked in the shin, which is the front of the leg below the knee. **

**Okay, I think I covered the main stuff! You guys totally rock, and you inspire me so much. **

**Keep leaving your wonderful reviews, and I'll try and get the next chapter out sooner!**


	6. Chapter 6

***IPORTANT***

**First of all, I'd like to profusely apologize for the long wait, but I had major problems! For the past two weeks, I have been trying to upload this chapter, but fanfiction wouldn't let me and said that an error occured! I was really upset over that, and no matter what I did I couldn't do anything under Yugioh 5d's! I even tried to repost the story under 'new story', but it wouldn't even let me do that! I sent emails to technical support, and they all have gone unanswered. Heck, I even created another account because I was just going to open this story under my new account. But I guess the problem is fixed because I can now edit my story. I felt such relief when the problem was finally solved. Once again, I apologize for the terribly long wait, and I give my humble thanks for your patience! Now, the rest is what I uploaded two weeks ago.**

**Finally, I have put up another chapter!**

**I'm terribly sorry about the horrid wait, but I've been sooooo busy! My older sister was in a car accident and my aunt had sugery, and of course I'm piled with school work...I'm just so eager for summer.**

**Anyways, here's the long awaited chatper! I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6

Yusei watched with a heavy heart as Akiza quietly exited the shack. He didn't think she would go far, but he walked over to the window to watch her just in case. She walked with her shoulders slumped and her head hanging low. She looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, bearing the burden alone. He watched as she stopped at a boulder, then sank to the ground and curled up into a defensive pose.

He spun around angrily to Kalin and said, "Why did you have to go and do that? You had no right to say the things you did!"

Kalin clenched his hands into fists, his temper quickly escalating. "I had every right Yusei! What would you have done if we woke up to see her gone and one of us dead? No matter what she looks like, she's a dangerous girl!"

Yusei clenched his own hands into fists, his usual calm demeanor quickly vanishing. "She's not dangerous, just scared and alone! She's been hurt by a lot of people, and that's why she acts the way she does, and you're not making it any better! Besides, if she wanted to hurt us she would have done it when she had her Rose Tentacles summoned!"

Kalin rolled his eyes and said, "Come on Yusei, you're blinded by a pretty face! Something about her just isn't sticking, and I intend on finding out before she gets one of us hurt!"

Yusei jumped in front of the door before Kalin could exit and said, "No, leave her alone. You're just going to make it worse."

Kalin gritted his teeth as he growled, "Move Yusei. As leader, I have an obligation to protect the members from my team from any possible danger. Step aside so I can talk to her."

Yusei didn't budge as he said in a stern voice, "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. If you push her too hard, she's gonna run. She's already nervous around you."

Kalin forced his body to relax as he said, "Fine, then you go speak with her."

Yusei paused for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I will."

Yusei then turned around and walked out of the shack, making sure the door slammed shut behind him.

* * *

Akiza's tears were still falling from her eyes when she heard a noise beside her. She darted her gaze up and her eyes connected with the beautiful blue ones that belonged to Yusei. She watched as he slid down on the ground beside her and studied her face.

He reached up and gently wiped the tears away. She flinched when he first made contact, but soon realized that she liked the feel of his rough hand on her smooth cheek.

As he lowered his hand, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Akiza lowered her gaze to the ground. "Do you want to hear about it?"

She was surprised when she heard him say in a serious voice, "Yes."

Akiza took a deep breath, then began. "I was a little girl when I first found out about my powers. I was dueling my father, and I got angry. Anyways, I ended up hurting him, and when I started crying and tried to hug him he called me a monster and told me to stay away from him and my mother. I guess he couldn't stand the fact that his little girl was a monster, so he sent me away. I was sent to duel academy, where they said they could help me. They were wrong. All the teachers were scared of me, and all my classmates made fun of me and called me names. They started calling me a witch, so when I was kicked out of school, I was then known as the Black Rose Witch."

Yusei felt sorrow and pain for the little girl who had gone through so much. "What happened after you left the duel academy?"

Akiza sighed as she said, "I just lived on my own. My reputation was spreading, so people were either afraid of me and took pains to stay away from me, or people thought that I was a challenge. At first a lot of people wanted to duel me, but after most of my challengers ended up in the hospital….well, let's just say that I wasn't very popular. I had to steal food to eat and I slept in dark alleys. I started wearing the cape and mask because it was almost like I had a new identity, and then I could forget about my past. When I was wearing the mask, I was no longer Akiza."

Yusei couldn't believe that she had been through all of that by herself. No wonder she didn't trust anyone.

Yusei waited for a second, then asked, "Were you all by yourself this whole time?"

Akiza shrugged as she whispered in a small voice, "Yeah, but it didn't matter. I wanted to be alone. That way no one could hurt me."

Yusei turned his body to face hers and placed his hand over hers. He waited until she lifted her face so that she was looking at him, then he said, "Akiza, I'm sorry for everything you went through by yourself, but you have to believe me when I say that I promise that if you stay here, with us, that you'll never be alone again."

Akiza smiled, but it soon disappeared when she remembered a similar offer that she had received not too long ago.

Yusei saw the emotions on Akiza's face and felt worry pressing against his chest. "What's wrong Akiza?"

Akiza looked up into Yusei's concerned face and said, "Yusei, there's something I didn't tell you."

Panic started mixing with the worry as it suddenly dawned on him. "There's another reason you left New Domino City, isn't there?"

Akiza couldn't look at him no more, so she lowered her gaze back to the ground as she said, "It's nothing serious as killing someone, but yes, I did have another reason."

Yusei tightened his grip on her hand as he said, "Akiza, you know you can tell me anything."

Akiza took a deep breath and said, "Well, I probably just overreacted, but while I was hiding in an alley, a man grabbed my arm and told me that he was a friend. He knew my name, my real name, and he knew all about my powers. He said his name was Sayer, and that he was head over something called the Arcadium Movement, which was a place that psychic duelists stayed and trained. He told me that I was a psychic duelist, and there were other people like me, including him."

Yusei's eyebrows shot up as he queestioned, "He had powers like yours?"

Akiza shrugged as she said, "That's what he said, but I never saw it. Anyways, he told me that he wanted me to go with him so he could help me control my powers, but something about him just didn't seem right. I told him that I didn't want to go with him, but I guess he didn't accept my answer because he grabbed me when I started walking away. The only reason he left me was because I summoned Rose Tentacles and he didn't have a duel disk, so he couldn't use his powers. He gave me this metal object, then left."

Yusei interrupted her story as a question surfaced in his mind. "What metal object?"

Akiza reached up and touched the metal roll in her hair. "This. He said it would help me control my powers. I guess it worked because ever since I've put it on I've felt calmer."

Yusei nodded and asked, "What happened when he left?"

Akiza looked up at him as she said, "He told me that he'd give me some time to think about what he said, and that he'd come back for me. He must've been spying on me because he knew my real name, all about my powers, where to find me, everything. I decided to make it so he wouldn't be able to find me again, so I decided to come to Satellite."

Yusei couldn't explain the feeling that overcame him as he thought about the man spying on and tracking down Akiza.

Akiza continued to look into his eyes as she said, "Something about him just didn't seem right, especially after he said that he would come back for me."

Yusei leaned down closer as he stated in a calm voice, "Akiza, I promise that nothing will happen to you as long as I'm around. Stay here with us, with me. Join The Enforcers and we'll be your family. We protect our own."

Family. Akiza felt her eyes water up as that word echoed in her head. Ever since her parents had abandoned her, she never knew what it was like to have someone care for you, to care about you. Yusei was offering her something that she had never had, but had always wanted.

She smiled as she threw her good arm around his neck and buried her face in his muscular chest. "I'd love to stay."

* * *

Kalin watched Yusei and Akiza from the window, anger coursing through his body.

How dare she refuse to talk to him, yet turn around and spill everything to Yusei!

Kalin took a deep breath and walked away from the window. It didn't matter anyways. As long as she stayed and joined The Enforcers nothing mattered.

He wanted, no, _needed_ her power. She could defeat anyone she wanted to without even dueling them!

Kalin felt the power overrun the anger and chuckled to himself.

With Akiza's help, he would soon be the most powerful man in Satellite!

* * *

Akiza was still smiling as she pulled back from Yusei.

She cocked her head to the side as she asked, "So what exactly do you guys do?"

Yusei thought for a second, then said, "Well, we mainly duel other gangs that own different parts of Satellite. The winner takes control over the loser's district. Our goal is to beat all the other gangs and become the number one dueling group in Satellite, and then stay number one. We want to make Satellite safe for people, and getting rid of all the other gangs is the best way."

Akiza burrowed her eyebrows in thought as she asked, "You mean the gangs actually own parts of Satellite?"

Yusei grinned and said, "Not in the way you're thinking. They don't actually 'own' it. What I meant was that they're in control over that area, like it's their place. Understand better?"

Akiza nodded and said in a serious voice, "I don't want to duel anyone Yusei, not yet. I'll only end up hurting people."

Yusei nodded and said, "I understand Akiza, and I promise that you don't have to duel if you don't want to."

Akiza lowered her gaze to the ground, her expression somber and serious. "I want you to promise me something else Yusei."

Yusei didn't know what she would ask for, but he didn't like that scared look that was on her face. "What is it?"

Akiza lifted her gaze back to Yusei's and said, "Promise me that you'll never leave me alone with Kalin."

Yusei jerked his head back with surprise as he stammered, "What? Why?"

Akiza kept the steel in her voice as she said, "There's just something about him that doesn't seem right to me. I'm not saying there's something wrong with him, I would just be more comfortable if I wasn't alone with him."

Yusei knew that Kalin had upset her with his questions earlier, but he still didn't understand why she felt that way towards him. But seeing the fear and trust in her eyes had him agreeing to her. "Okay, I promise."

Akiza felt relief flood her system as she sighed in relief. "Thanks. So, what were you guys going to do today?"

Yusei stood up and helped her off the ground as he said, "We've already done it. Me and Kalin defeated the fairy gang while Jack and Crow were supposed to get more food."

Akiza cocked an eyebrow in amusement as she said, "Fairy gang?"

Yusei grinned as they headed back to the shack. "Yeah, I know. We were really disappointed when we arrived and there were only twelve year old girls there."

Akiza tried to keep the laugh from escaping as she gasped, "Twelve year old girls? You guys dueled twelve year old girls? I hope you went easy on them."

Yusei laughed as he said, "Trust me, we went real easy. After they lost, they ran off crying. I have to say that it was a first for me. I'm used to guys either showing respect over the loss or wanting to beat me up. Watching girls running and crying was definitely a change."

Akiza laughed, and couldn't remember the last time she felt so carefree and happy.

* * *

Sayer slammed his fist on the table after he listened to the disappointing news from his spies.

"What do you mean she's gone? She can't be gone, I was with her just last night!"

One of the men stepped forward and said, "We're doing our best to track her down sir."

Sayer stood up as he said, "You better find her! Without her, everything's ruined! She couldn't have gone far! You better have good news next time I see you!"

Both the men bowed as they said, "Yes sir."

Sayer watched as they exited the room. He rubbed his temples as he felt a headache growing.

How dare she hide from him! Did she not realize who he was?

Sayer slammed his fist against the desk again and watched as pencils and pens spilled everywhere. He turned around to look out his window. He looked up at the largest building and a small smile stole on his lips as he thought about his plans.

"No matter where you run Akiza Izinski, I'll find you. And when I do, you'll be sorry you didn't accept my offer the first time!"

**Okay, that's chapter 6! I hope everyone enjoyed it.**

**Now to answer some reviews:**

**1. Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. I hope I haven't upset anyone. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible to make up for it.**

**2. I'm glad you like my little plot twists. I really like a good story, but I think it gets boring when nothing exciting happens! I'm glad you guys like it, and there shall be more in the future chapters!**

**3. I felt a rush of relief knowing that alot of you agree with my portrayal of Kalin. I honestly like him, but he's just gotta be like this right now.**

**4. I love Akiza and Yusei, so I can promise that there will definately be more fluff! :)**

**5. Okay, about the whole signer mark thing. Don't forget that this story is AU (alternate universe), and that means that not everything will be going exactly like it does in the show. Also, if I remember correctly, neither Yusei not Jack has even received their mark yet in this time period. They don't receive it until later, when Yusei duels him to win back his stardust dragon. Honestly, there won't be much, if any, mentioning of the signers or their marks.**

**And I believe that's it! If you have any other questions, please ask me. It doesn't bother me a bit, and I'll explain any problems you have to the best of my ability.**

**Thank you for your support and reviews, and don't forget to leave me a review for this chapter as well! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven is now completed faithful readers!**

**I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :]**

Chapter 7

Yusei looked over at Kalin as he and Akiza entered the shack. Kalin raised an eyebrow, a silent question that was asking Yusei if he had received all the information from Akiza. Yusei gave a slight nod as they walked into the room. Kalin returned the nod, knowing that Yusei would tell him everything later.

Kalin smiled as he held Akiza's half-eaten apple out to her and said, "Well, I hope everything was worked out."

"I've agreed to become a member of your gang." Akiza said as she quickly grasped the apple out of the leader's hands.

Kalin's grin widened as he said, "Excellent."

Akiza lowered herself into a chair and said, "I know that you guys duel a lot, but I'm not ready to duel yet. When I duel, I can't control my powers. I'm just not ready to try again, not right now."

Kalin felt slightly annoyed at her statement, but shrugged as he said, "That's fine. I don't believe your arm is strong enough to duel with yet anyways."

"No," Akiza said, gazing down at her still injured arm, "it will be a while until it is completely healed.

All three looked over at the door as they heard Jack yelling, "Don't you ever shut up? The whole trip, there and back, you've done nothing but blabber like a buffoon! Now that we're back, give my ear a rest and go away for a minute!"

Akiza watched the door slam open to reveal an annoyed Jack and a grinning Crow. Jack stomped over and dumped the paper bag of groceries on the old table and went over to sit in the other chair. Crow sighed as he picked up Jack's discarded bag and walked over to the chest to place the food in it.

She was getting ready to bite into her apple when Jack shoved a white bottle under her nose. She froze and slowly looked up at him with confusion in her eyes.

Jack shrugged as he held the small bottle out to her. "I picked up some pain killer for your arm, but if you don't want to take it I don't really care, my feelings won't be hurt."

Akiza smiled up at him as she grabbed the medicine bottle. "Thank you Jack, that was very thoughtful."

Jack cheeks dusted pink with embarrassment as he shrugged and sat back down in his chair.

Akiza shook out a couple of pills, but paused when she realized that she didn't have anything to drink. Yusei noticed this and said, "There's a water pump out in the back. You can get something cold to drink there, it's easy to spot."

Usually Yusei would have offered to go with her, but he knew Kalin wanted to know what she had told him, and Jack and Crow had to know everything too.

Akiza nodded and exited the door, off to search for the water pump.

As soon as she was no longer in sight, Kalin said, "Alright, what's her deal?"

Yusei sighed and said, "Nothing's wrong with her. She was abandoned as a kid, sent off to school to try to help her control her powers, then kicked out. She's been living on her own on the street for a while, dueling people who challenged her and stealing to survive. People called her names and didn't want anything to do with her because of her powers, which is why she was called the Black Rose Witch. She left New Domino City in hopes of leaving behind all of those memories as well."

Crow shook his head in pity as he said, "Man, that's harsh. I can't believe people could be so cruel."

Kalin narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is that everything Yusei, or are you keeping something from us?"

Yusei hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly said, "That's not the only reason she left, Kalin."

Jack banged his fist against the armrest and said, "I knew it! She's in some kind of trouble, isn't she?"

Yusei sighed as he said, "Well, I don't know if she's in any real danger or anything, but there is a guy looking for her."

Jack rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air as he said, "Great, just great. I just knew this girl would be hiding from something. She's the type that always has trouble following her."

Yusei turned his head and looked at Jack as he said, "Look, it's not her fault. This guy got her when she wasn't expecting it. Said his name was Sayer. He wanted Akiza to go with him. She said that he told her that he had powers like hers and that he could help her gain better control over them. He's head of something called the Arcadium Movement, whatever that is, and he wants Akiza to join."

Crow frowned as he said, "Why didn't she go with him then? If he has the same powers as she does, maybe he can really help her."

Yusei remembered the scared look on her face when she had told him about Sayer. "No, she said there was something weird about him. She said he must've been tracking her or something because he knew everything about her. And when she told him no, he said that he would come back for her."

Jack leaned his head against the back of the chair and said, "Great, so now we have to worry about some weirdo tracking her down, possibly be angry that we're hiding her, and he's got powers that could do some serious damage. My day just gets better and better."

Kalin didn't like the idea of someone trying to take Akiza away from him. She had finally joined the team, and he wasn't going to let anyone take her away. Once he convinced her to use her powers again, The Enforcers would be undefeatable.

Kalin stood up to face Yusei, Jack, and Crow. "Look, Akiza is now one of us, and we protect each other's backs."

Crow's mouth dropped open as he said, "Wait, you mean she actually joined our team?"

Kalin nodded as he replied, "Yes, she did, and we're going to do everything possible to see that she stays here. Now, who's with me?"

Kalin thrust his fist in the center front of the guys as he waited for their answer. Yusei nodded and smiled as his fist joined Kalin's.

Crow shrugged as he also put his fist in and said, "Man, it's gonna be weird telling people that a girl's in my group. I'm in. Besides, I like her."

All three looked at Jack. Jack sighed as he stood and also threw his fist in. "Alright, it's not really like I really have a choice anyways."

* * *

Akiza looked everywhere for the water pump, but she couldn't find it. She sighed as she walked a little further, deciding that if she couldn't find it soon that she would just go back and ask one of the guys to show it to her.

There was nothing in sight but huge boulders and dirt. Akiza sighed as she turned around, deciding that she would just ask for help.

She was stopped as she was walking back to the shack when someone jumped out from behind a boulder, making her drop her pills out of shock. She gasped and took a step back, unknowingly walking into a person. The person behind her wrapped his muscular arms around her, rendering her immobile.

She squirmed in his grasp as the man who had jumped in front of her chuckled and slowly walked towards her. "I must say what a surprise it is to catch such a beautiful woman when we were expecting a member of The Enforcers."

Akiza glared up at the man as she stopped struggling and said, "I am a member of the Enforcers, now let me go!"

She saw the shock on his face, then watched as he doubled over with laughter. "Boy that's rich! The Enforcers couldn't handle us on their own, so they had to get a helpless female to help them out!"

Akiza felt the anger bubbling up as she said, "Be careful who you call helpless. The only reason you're still alive is because you have your ape of a man holding me back. A real man wouldn't be scared of a girl."

The man immediately stopped laughing as her words stirred his anger. He clenched his hands into fists as he said, "Watch your mouth girl! Everyone knows that women don't duel!"

Akiza didn't know how long she could keep her anger under control as she said through clenched teeth, "For your information, I am an excellent duelist, but I don't need to duel to get rid of you!"

She heard the man holding her say, "Well, she does have on a duel disk, and I see a deck attached to her belt."

The man rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, whatever. I don't know who you think you are, but you're coming with us now."

Akiza gasped and started struggling again as the man that had been holding her picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. Her injured arm was throbbing when it got caught between the man's shoulder and her stomach. She thrashed her legs, but the man kept one arm firmly around them.

She panicked as she beat his back with her good arm and said, "Let me go! Put me down! You can't just take me!"

The man chuckled as he said, "I can, and I am."

Akiza didn't know what she was going to do. She would be long gone before the guys would know what happened. And what was this man planning on doing with her?

She still had her duel disk on her arm, but she couldn't do anything because her other arm was trapped beneath her body. Akiza felt tears come to her eyes as pain and panic overrode her senses. Her arm was screaming in pain.

Akiza sucked in a deep breath as she figured that this was her last hope. She opened her mouth as wide as it would go and let out an ear-piercing scream.

* * *

The guys still had their fists together and were all smiling when they heard the scream. Yusei's eyes widened as he looked up and exclaimed, "Akiza!"

Yusei ran out of the shack, the other three right behind him. Yusei felt his panic doubled when the scream was suddenly cut off.

Yusei scanned ran behind the shack as he yelled, "Akiza! Akiza, where are you?"

He quickly scanned the area, and after seeing that she wasn't there, he continued running and yelling her name. She was nowhere in sight, and all he could think about was that if something happened to her, it would be all his fault.

He had promised her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He should have taken her to the water pump, he knew it was hard to spot. She was probably scared and hurt, and it was all his fault.

Yusei paused when he heard Jack yell, "Hey guys, over here! I found something!"

Yusei ran over to where Jack was standing. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands. Yusei felt his stomach roll as he said, "What is it Jack?"

Jack waited until Crow and Kalin joined them, then he said, "It's a note, from Magical Mayhem."

Crow rubbed his hand down his face as he groaned, "Isn't that the gang that we beat a couple days ago? They didn't take losing that well."

Jack nodded and said, "Obviously they didn't, because they demand a rematch. They say they got Akiza and that they'll be waiting at their place."

Crow snorted and said, "Their place? The only place they have is a public restroom."

Kalin scanned the note and said, "They must be talking about their old district, the one we took from them."

Yusei nodded as he headed back to the shack.

Crow blinked in surprise as he said, "Hey Yusei, where are you going? You're going the wrong way."

Yusei kept walking as he said, "I'm going to get my duel disk. They said they wanted a rematch, so that's what I'm gonna give them."

* * *

Akiza's scream was short lived when a hand clamped over her mouth. She sent a death glare to the main speaker and debated for a second on biting him.

The man narrowed his eyes and growled, "Shut up girl! Now, I'm gonna let go of your mouth, but if you so much as cough, my friend here will make sure that you'll not be able to speak another word! Do I make myself clear?"

Akiza just continued glaring at him, then sent him a small nod. He slowly released her mouth, making sure that she hadn't lied to him. When she was silent for a few seconds, he took a deep breath and said, "Good, I would have hated to damage that pretty face of yours. Ian, let's keep moving.

Ian nodded and started walking again, Akiza still tossed across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Akiza formed a plan in her mind as they walked.

As soon as Ian dropped her, she would summon Rose Tentacles. No matter how bad her arm was hurting, she was going to make these men pay.

Nobody carried the Black Rose like a sack of flour!

And nobody took the Black Rose where she didn't want to go!

**And that, my dear readers, is the end of chapter seven.**

**Now, to answer your reviews:**

**1. Thank you so much for being so understanding about my update situation. I was so relieved when I received nothing but encouragement and support from you! **

**2. Never fear, for I have a feeling that Yusei and Akiza will be growing closer over the next couple of chapters (hint hint)**

**And that's really all there is! Don't hesitate if you have a question, for I am more than happy to answer!**

**Once again, thank you for the kind reviews, and I shall be anxiously awaiting the reviews for chapter seven!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I have finally posted the next chapter! Yay! **

**I hope everyone enjoys it! :)**

Chapter 8

Akiza was so tired. Her body ached from being carried over someone's shoulder for a few hours, and her injured arm had gone numb almost half an hour ago. She hoped she would still be able to use it when she was released. The sun had started going down and she knew it would get completely dark in an hour or two.

She hadn't opened her mouth or moved a muscle since she had screamed, hoping to save all of her energy for when she needed it.

She gasped when she was suddenly dropped on the ground. She glared up at Ian and said, "You could have set me down nicely!"

Ian grinned as he shrugged his massive shoulders, then walked away as he chuckled to himself. Akiza started wiggling her fingers from the hand of her injured arm, hoping that she could get the blood to circulate so she could feel it. As she wiggled her fingers, the man in charge crouched down in front of her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

He grinned as he tilted her head to each side, gazing hungrily at her fair features. "My but you're a pretty thing. What's your name?"

Akiza's eyes narrowed as she jerked her chin out of his grip and growled, "I am the Black Rose Witch! Release me now!"

The man stood up as he chuckled, obviously finding amusement in what she said. "You a witch, that's rich! The Enforcers sure did find a feisty one, didn't they Ian?"

Akiza watched the leader walk over to sit down as he continued talking to Ian, not even sparing her a second glance. Akiza knew that now was her chance.

Now they would pay for their foolish ignorance.

Moving slowly, she reached behind her neck and untied the sling. It took her a while to get the knots to come loose, but it soon fell to the floor as her injured arm dropped into her lap. She was surprised when it didn't hurt as much as she expected and figured that it was probably still somewhat numb. She quickly glanced up at the two guys, making sure that they weren't paying any attention to her.

She felt relieved when she saw that they were still engrossed in their conversation, both of their backs turned away from her. She slid her injured arm over to where her deck was attached to her belt and slowly pulled it out of the pouch, careful to not make any kind of sound to draw their attention. She moved her duel disk closer so that she wouldn't have to lift her bad arm much to slide her deck into place. She carefully placed her deck into the slot and watched as her duel disk lit up and opened.

She glanced up when she heard the leader suddenly shout, "What are you doing? You think you can take us? Bring it on girl, you can't defeat us!"

Akiza jumped to her feet and, ignoring the pain and weakness, pulled out a card from her deck. "I can, and I will."

And with that, she placed the card on her duel disk and watched as Rose Tentacles appeared. "Rose Tentacles, get them!"

Both of their eyes widened when Rose Tentacles tightly wrapped its vines around their bodies, roughly squeezing them to silence their surprised shouts of horror.

The leader winced when the vines constricted and gasped, "What is this? How is this possible?"

Akiza glared at them as she said, "Your first mistake was kidnapping me. Your second mistake was letting me keep my duel disk and deck. And your last, and final mistake, was thinking that I was a helpless little girl! Nobody bullies me around anymore! Now Rose Tentacles, show them my power!"

Both men yelled in pain as Rose Tentacles squeezed their bodies. After a few seconds, Rose Tentacles then threw them against the brick wall, and Akiza watched as they collapsed to the floor unconscious. Several broken bricks fell from the crumbling wall as a cloud of dust rose from their fallen bodies. Taking a deep breath to calm the fury she felt, she lifted Rose Tentacles from her duel disk, but kept her deck in place. She turned around and headed out the way that they had entered, never giving the men who had kidnapped her a second glance.

* * *

After the team got their duel disks from the shack, the all headed for the district that Magical Mayhem had once owned.

Kalin was furious that they had successfully taken Akiza when he had been only a few yards away.

How dare they?

They would pay for trying to ruin his plans and stealing his newest weapon.

Crow had grown attached to the beautiful girl and was starting to get real worried. Jack had also grown fond of the lovely Akiza and hoped that she wasn't hurt and scared.

But no one's worry was greater than Yusei's. Yusei kept seeing her scared face every time he thought about what had happened.

He had never been so scared before, or angry.

The anger surprised him more than anything. He had always been protective over his friends, and he would have been angry if it had happened to any one of them, but he couldn't explain the kind of rage he was feeling right now.

He couldn't believe that they had taken an innocent person just to get back at The Enforcers! She didn't even know who they were! She was probably confused and scared.

Yusei was going to enjoy beating them all over again.

Kalin held up his hand to make the rest of the gang stop. He turned around and said, "Alright guys, we're almost there. They only have two members now that they have broken apart, so the first two that sees them snags and duels them, the other two find Akiza."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Satisfied that they understood the plan, Kalin turned around and rounded the corner.

As soon as the team had rounded the corner, they all stopped in shock. Akiza was right there, walking out of the little cave!

Yusei ran towards her as he yelled, "Akiza!"

Akiza felt panic as she heard someone yelling her name, so she grabbed a card from her deck and spun around. She froze when she recognized the people running towards her.

Yusei watched as she whirled around with panic on her face. She had a card gripped in her hand, but stopped right before she summoned her monster.

Akiza felt her eyes water up as she whispered in a small voice, "Yusei?"

Yusei stopped a few feet away from her, not wanting to scare her. "Yes Akiza, it's me. You don't have to be scared anymore."

Akiza slid her card back into her deck and ran to Yusei as she cried, "Yusei!"

Akiza threw herself into his arms and felt protected when his arms wrapped around her. She buried her face into his chest as the immense relief flooded her body.

A sob escaped her mouth as she said, "Yusei, these two guys kidnapped me! One of them carried me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes!"

Yusei patted her back as Kalin and Jack walked into the cave, going to find the two men that had taken her.

Yusei pulled back enough so that he could see her face. "Did they hurt you Akiza? Where are they?"

Akiza choked back the sobs that wanted to escape as she said, "My arm was hurt when that ape man carried me, and I'll probably have a few more bruises from where he threw me on the ground, but other than that I'm fine. And don't worry, they won't be getting away."

Akiza pulled herself out of his embrace and turned around so that he was looking at her back. She felt shame as she said, "I used my powers Yusei. I knew I wouldn't get away unless I did, and I was glad that I hurt them."

Akiza turned her head so that he could see her pained expression. "I wanted to hurt them Yusei. I didn't even feel bad for what I did!"

Akiza lowered her gaze to the ground as she said in a quiet voice, "Maybe I am a monster after all."

Yusei felt his heart breaking when he stared into her horrified face. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and slowly spun her around until she was facing him again.

He waited until she was looking up at him when he said, "You're not a monster Akiza, you did what anyone would have done if they were in your position. And I'm glad you hurt them, because we would have hurt them for you if you hadn't."

Akiza stopped holding back the sobs and covered her face with her good hand. She felt Yusei wrapping his arms around her and was glad that she could use his strength. She leaned against his chest, weary from the emotional day.

As Yusei looked over Akiza's head, he saw Jack and Kalin exit the cave. Jack saw the silent question on Yusei's face and gave a small nod.

Yusei understood what Jack was telling him. He was saying that Magical Mayhem had been taken care of.

Akiza felt someone pat her shoulder and looked up to see Crow's face.

He gave her a small smile as he said, "I wish I could've seen you beat those jokesters. Trust me when I say that it would've made my day seeing that buff guy getting pulverized by a flower."

Akiza's sob sounded more like a laugh when she heard what Crow said. He had said that to cheer her up and tell her that he understood why she had used her powers.

Yusei frowned as he looked down and saw her injured arm dangling lifelessly by her side. "Where's your sling?"

Akiza looked down at her numb arm and lightly shrugged. "I don't know. I must've left it on the ground where I took it off."

Jack sighed as he pulled the sling out of his back pocket and said, "Yeah, I found it. What am I, a nanny?"

Akiza smiled, knowing that he was just kidding even though he looked serious. Yusei reached out and grabbed the sling from Jack.

As he began to tie it into a knot again, he said, "Your arm is never gonna heal at this rate. This is the third time that I've fixed this sling."

Akiza lowered her gaze as she whispered, "Sorry."

As he placed the sling around her neck and placed her arm in it, he said, "Don't worry about it. Just try to keep it on this time, okay?"

Akiza nodded as her arm rested once again in the homemade sling.

Seeing that everything was settled, Kalin said, "Alright, it'll get dark soon. Let's head on back. Be on the watch everyone, a lot of gangs come out at night."

Akiza nodded again and followed Kalin. She noticed that Yusei and Crow were standing on either side of her, and that Jack was behind her. She felt a warm glow as she realized that they were trying to protect her.

And they had come after her. Yusei had said that they would be her family, that they would protect her. And they had.

Akiza felt her heart glow as she realized that this is what it must feel like to have a family, a real family that cared about you.

Everyone kept a watchful eye out as the sun began to set. They were still a good ways from the shack. They usually wouldn't be worried about getting to the shack before, but that was when it had just been the four of them. Now they had Akiza, and everyone had grown fond of her and didn't want anything else to happen to her.

Yusei saw her head slowly lowering as she fought to keep her eyes open. He knew she must be tired. She had probably traveled all night to get here, and she had been through a lot since she's been here. Yusei grabbed Kalin's shoulder to make him stop when he saw her steps slowing.

When Kalin had stopped, Yusei turned to Akiza and said, "Take off your duel disk."

Akiza's eyes popped open when she heard what he had said. She looked down at her duel disk in indecision. It was her only defense, and with it gone she was useless.

She snapped her gaze back to Yusei's when he said, "Trust me Akiza, you'll be okay."

Akiza hesitated, then nodded as she held out her arm to Yusei. She couldn't take it off by herself since her arm was in a sling, so she made a silent request for him to take it off for her.

Yusei pulled off her duel disk and handed it to Crow. Then he walked in front of her, turned around, and crouched down low on the ground.

He looked behind him as he said, "Here, climb up on my back and wrap your good arm around my neck."

He saw Akiza's hesitation, so he said, "I know you're tired Akiza. There's no way you'll be able to walk all the way back to the hideout without falling asleep on your feet. We won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Akiza nodded and stepped up to him. Unsure of what to do, she wrapped her arm around his neck. She jumped in surprise when she felt his arms wrap around her legs to hold her in place. She gasped as he slowly stood, her feet leaving the ground.

She panicked as she said, "I'm too heavy! I'll hurt your back!"

Yusei bounced her up a little further, getting a better grip on her as he said, "Your fine. Go to sleep."

Yusei nodded at Kalin, letting him know that he was ready to go. Akiza tightened her arm as he started walking again.

Never in her entire life had she ever been carried before!

When all the panic finally subsided, she actually enjoyed the sensation of being carried. She didn't like feeling weak, but it felt good knowing that someone was willing to carry her when she wasn't able to go on.

Akiza yawned as the stress of today finally took a toll on her body. She rested her head on his back as her eyes drifted closed.

The last thought she had before she fell asleep was that she couldn't remember the last time she had fallen asleep without being scared.

**And that's the end of Chapter 8! **

**Now, for some responses to reviews:**

**1. Sorry for the wait! I know what I want to happen in this story, so I don't really have writer's block, but I'm always so pushed for time. But I'm sure you understand with end of school year and everything. Anyways, I'll really try my best to get the next chapter out ASAP! And it also took a while because I was finishing up my other story!**

**2. Don't worry, I won't spoil the surprise, but I feel a kiss coming on! I'm really trying to wait so it doesn't seem rushed, but even my patience is running thin lol! So never fear, kissing is near!**

**3. I totally agree with your favorite scenes being Yusei/Azkia, because personally their my favorite too!**

**4. Was the last chapter shorter than the others? ...I think by a little. Sorry about that, I just thought it would be better for me to go ahead and get out what I had written instead of making you wait even longer so I could expand it some. So sorry, I hope this one was longer.**

**And I think that was about it! Love the reviews, please keep them coming. You guys are my greatest motivation!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yes, it has been a while since I've updated, and I'm so sorry! Honestly, if I had enough time to do everything I have to do and write out a decent sized chapter, I would totally do it! Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way, which totally sucks. But anyways, here's (finally) the next chapter! Yay! I seriously hope you enjoy it! :)**

Chapter 9

Akiza slept as they walked back to the shack. The guys were silent as they watched closely for danger.

Kalin was furious. Nothing was going how he had wanted it to go. He had wanted Akiza to like him, not Yusei.

And she had almost been stolen from him!

Kalin gritted his teeth as he continued walking. And to top off everything, she said that she wasn't going to duel for them! That was the only reason he had wanted her in the first place!

Kalin forced himself to take deep breaths and figure out a new plan. He would make Akiza like him. Yes, that's exactly what he had to do.

Yusei would never force her to use her powers the way Kalin wanted. He knew he could talk her into using her powers to duel again, but he had to get her to like him first. And when he had her doing everything he told her to do, Kalin knew he would be unstoppable.

When he and Jack had entered that cave, they had expected to find the two rats that had taken her and teach them a lesson. But instead they had found them unconscious on the floor. It had been obvious that Akiza had used her powers to escape, and Kalin had felt such power knowing that she had done that with an injured arm. Imagine what she could do when she was healed and had his guidance!

He looked over and gazed at the relaxed face of Akiza. Kalin felt the anger leave him as he thought about the power that would soon be under his control.

* * *

They were halfway home when the gang heard a rattling noise. Everyone stopped and started scanning the area. Yusei tightened his grip on Akiza, hoping that nothing would happen.

Jack took a step forward and yelled out into the darkness, "Show yourself coward!"

The gang watched as three men in cloaks stepped out of an alley. Jack and Crow activated their duel disks as they stood in front of Yusei, making sure that they were also in front of Akiza.

Kalin glared at the two men as he said, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

One man bowed slightly and said, "We were sent from the Arcadium Movement to retrieve a Ms. Akiza Izinski."

Yusei's eyes widened as he said, "Arcadium Movement? That's who wants Akiza! That's where that Sayer guy is from!"

Another man stepped forward and said, "Yes, Sayer is the leader of the Movement. He believes that he can help Ms. Izinski with her powers. It isn't safe for her to be on the streets with the powers that she has. Someone could get hurt."

Jack activated his duel disk as he said, "She isn't going anywhere, and if I have to duel you to make you leave then I'll be happy to oblige."

The first man took a step back and said, "You have it all wrong, we don't want any trouble. We were just sent to gather Ms. Izinski and deliver her to the Arcadium Movement. Now, just give her to us and we'll be on our way."

Yusei got a better grip on Akiza, just in case they had to run, and said, "Sorry, but she doesn't want to go with you, so she's not going anywhere."

One of the men lifted his head as he smirked and said, "I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice in this matter."

All three men pulled their arms out of the cloaks, revealing duel disks on their arms. They activated them as one of them said, "She's coming with us, even if it means that we have to get through you first!"

Yusei knew that he should just take Akiza and run, but he just couldn't leave his friends. He walked over in front of Crow so that he was looking at him.

When he had Crow's full attention, he said, "You're the fastest, so you should take Akiza and get her away from these guys."

He knew that Crow had probably wanted to stay and duel, but after a slight hesitation Crow nodded and sat Akiza's duel disk that he had been carrying on the ground.

Yusei turned around so that Akiza was in front of Crow. Crow looked at Akiza, then turned and looked at Jack as he yelled, "Hey Jack, help me get Akiza on my back."

Jack snorted as he said, "Please Crow, you're too scrawny to carry her. Just wake her up."

Crow scowled as he flexed his arm and said, "Hey, I've been working really hard to buff myself up a bit. Check out these pythons!"

Yusei felt his patience disappearing as he said, "Come on guys, we don't have time for this!"

Jack rolled his eyes as he walked over to Akiza. Crow turned around and held his arms behind his back, ready to support Akiza. Jack slid one arm under her thighs and one behind her back as Yusei slowly pushed her backwards. Soon Jack was cradling Akiza in his arms. Jack stepped over to Crow and started leaning Akiza forward until she was laying against Crow's back. Crow wrapped his arms around her legs and lightly bounced her up so that she was further up his back. Her arm slithered around his neck as she nuzzled her face into his back.

Crow smirked as he looked over at Jack and said, "See? Told you I could do it, and she isn't even that heavy!"

Jack rolled his eyes as he snagged one of the cloaked men. Kalin had already started dueling one of them while they had been switching Akiza to Crow's back.

Yusei nodded and said, "Okay Crow, get her out of here. And be careful."

Yusei watched as Crown nodded, then turned and started running down the street towards the shack.

Yusei turned, facing the last cloaked man. He snagged the man as he said, "Sorry to hurt your feelings, but Akiza will be long gone by the time you recover from your loss to us."

The cloaked man smirked as he said, "You fool, do you think we are the only ones? Did you not realize that we haven't even tried to follow them?"

Yusei felt shock and panic bubble up as he asked, "What do you mean?"

The man chuckled as he said, "There are two others, and they'll be waiting for your friend and Ms. Izinski."

Jack smirked as he looked over at Yusei's opponent and said, "You dolt! You said that there are two others, and both Crow and Akiza are duelists, so you're buddies aren't getting anyone!"

The man returned the smirk as he said, "You would be correct if it wasn't for that item lying on the ground at your feet."

Yusei looked down and his eyes widened as he said, "Akiza's duel disk!"

The man laughed at Yusei's distress as he said, "Correct. Your friend is the only one able to duel, and there are two others. No matter what, Akiza Izinski won't be able to escape!"

* * *

Akiza was awakened when she felt her body bouncing. She blinked her eyes open as she yawned, wondering what was going on. Her eyes widened when she saw Crow's orange hair in front of her face and not Yusei's.

Akiza lifted her head as she exclaimed, "Crow? Where's Yusei? Where's _anyone_? What's going on?"

Crow kept running as he said, "A few of Sayer's buddies came for you. Yusei, Jack, and Kalin are dueling three of them, but I gotta get you away from them. They weren't exactly convinced when we told them that you didn't want to go."

Akiza felt shock flow through her body. "They found me. It's only been a day and they've already found me."

Crow rolled his eyes and said, "Tell me about it. This guy must've kept close tabs on you."

Akiza didn't know what to do. She knew they would eventually find her, but she didn't think that it would've been this soon!

Akiza tightened her arm around Crow's neck as she said, "Where are we going? We can just leave the others!"

Crow just kept running as he said, "Don't worry about them, they'll be fine. We had to leave fast. Did you not hear me when I said that those guys wanted to take you with them?"

Akiza swallowed the fear rising in her throat. "No, I understood that part."

Crow nodded and said, "Good. Now let's just hope that those were the only ones after you."

Crow kept running down the dimly lit street. They were almost at the shack. His muscles were starting to ache, but he ignored it as he told himself that he had to keep going. He turned the street corner, then skidded to a stop when there were two hooded people standing at the end of the street.

Crow sighed as he said, "Great, just great."

Akiza moved her head so that she could see over Crow's shoulder as she said, "What's wrong? Who're they?"

Crow tried to think of a plan as he said, "Those are the clowns that are from that Movement thing. That Sayer guy sent them here to get you. Okay Crow, think."

Crow thought for a second, then smiled as he lowered her to the ground and said, "Alright, I've got it! There are two of them, and both of us can duel. I'll take the guy on the right, and you get the guy on the left."

Akiza nodded and lifted her arm, but suddenly gasped as she remembered that she had taken off her duel disk.

Akiza grabbed Crow's shoulder and spun him around as she said, "I can't! I don't have my duel disk!"

Crow felt his heart sank as he remembered that he had sat it on the ground before he had lifted her on his back. "Man, this isn't good. Even if I still duel one of the guys, the other one could snatch you when I'm not looking."

One of the cloaked men yelled out, "You can't escape us! We want Akiza Izinski, and we know that she doesn't have her duel disk, so there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

Akiza bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of something to do. Suddenly an idea hit her, and she looked up at Crow with a determined face.

"I have an idea, but I'll need your help."

Crow nodded and said, "Well, sure, but I'm not sure what you have in mind."

Akiza turned him around so that they were now facing the approaching cloaked men and walked in front of him.

"Since I don't have my duel disk or deck, I'll need to use yours. Keep the disk on your arm, but I'll need to borrow a monster card."

Crow blinked in surprise and raised his eyebrows. "You mean you're gonna summon one of my monsters by using your powers?"

Akiza kept a serious face as she nodded and said, "Yes, it's the only way."

She saw the shocked look on his face, then was shocked herself when he grinned from ear to ear.

Crow's eyes widened as he said, "You're gonna summon one of my monsters? That's so awesome! Oh man, which one should I chose?"

Akiza lifted his arm with the duel disk as he started debating with himself over which card she should use. She activated his duel disk and looked up at him. "Give me a card, and make it a good one."

Crow pulled a card from his deck and said, "Here, use Blackwing Born of the Spear."

Akiza nodded as she grabbed the card and turned to face the two men.

She lifted the card as she yelled, "Turn around and leave at once or you'll be sorry!"

Both men chuckled, obviously thinking that since she didn't have a duel disk on her arm that she couldn't summon a duel monster. The men kept coming closer, never slowing their pace.

Akiza's temper grew as she yelled, "Fine! Now you shall experience the power of the Black Rose! I summon Blackwing Born of the Spear!"

Akiza placed the card on Crow's duel disk and watched as the large bird appeared.

Crow grinned as one of his favorite monsters appeared.

Akiza lifted her hand into the sky as she said, "Go forth my mighty beast!"

The large bird charged the men and lifted them off the ground. As the two men screamed, Blackwing Born of the Spear slammed them into the ground, rendering them unconscious.

Akiza saw the bodies lying on the ground and lifted the card from Crow's duel disk. She took a deep breath, scared to see Crow's reaction to what she had done. Akiza swallowed and turned slowly so that she was looking at his chest. She gradually lifted her face, and was shocked to see Crow's face.

His jaw was opened as wide as it would go and his eyes were bugging out of his head. It reminded her a lot of how he had looked when he had seen what she looked like when Kalin had taken her mask off.

Crow blinked his eyes and said, "That….was….awesome! Oh man, did you see that? You would have never been able to do that if it wasn't for my card and duel disk! I knew my Blackwing would pack a pretty awesome punch!"

Akiza smiled, knowing that he was just really trying to make her feel better. He had heard her tell Yusei that she didn't like using her psychic powers to hurt people.

Akiza handed him back his card as she said, "Thanks Crow. It is a pretty awesome card."

Crow shrugged and said in a cocky voice, "What can I say? I'm just a pretty awesome guy."

Akiza laughed as she said, "You are Crow, you really are."

Crow smiled as he turned around and crouched down, getting in the position for her to climb up on his back. "Now that they're taken care of, how about we get going before any more show up?"

Akiza smiled as she took his hand and pulled him up. "Agreed, but I think I'll just walk the rest of the way."

Crow grinned as he rubbed his back, "That sounds like a plan to me. You're not heavy or anything, but I'm not a really big guy. My back is killing me!"

Akiza blushed as they started, once again, back to the shack.

**And that was chapter 9! Whew, I'm so glad I finally got that out there!**

**Anyways, here's some answers to your wonderful reviews:**

**1. Never fear, for I will NOT give up on this story! I have worked too hard (seriously, I've worked my butt off) on this story so far, and I shall see it to the end!**

**2. I'm glad you guys like how Akiza interracts with the Enforcers! I'm trying to create some sort of family atmosphere, because I could really see it happen.**

**3. Although I like the whole 'saving the damsel in distress' thing, I want to show a side of Akiza that proves that she can take care of herself. I don't really like girls who depend on someone all the time, and I don't think Akiza would be that type of girl (although it is nice for a guy to come rushing in to save her every once in a while:P)**

**4. I promise, PROMISE, that the kiss is coming up soon! I love how you guys are so anxious for it, but I don't wanna just stick it in anywhere. I want to make sure the story flows, so it doesn't seem rushed or awkward. But it IS coming up, so be looking for it! :)**

**5. About Kalin attacking sector security...hmmmmmm...I've actually pondered this alot. For those of you who don't know, in the actual show Kalin attacked sector security, and I'm unsure whether or not I'm gonna go with it. On one hand I really do want to because it will show how unstable he is, and it also corresponds well with him from the show. On the other hand, I really want something to happen (not gonna spoil it) and if he attacks sector security, I don't think I could somehow write the scene I want. So, I'm still slightly undecided... :(**

**And I believe that's it! Please, send more questions, for I will answer whatever you need!**

**Thank you so much for the reviews! Love them, and keep them coming!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yes...it has been quite a while since I've updated. Actually, I didn't even notice until someone sent me a review telling me that it had been a long time since I've updated! I went to check, and lo and behold it's been forever! I'm so ashamed :(**

**I would like to say that I am humbled by you guys tho. You were faithful with reviews even when I havent updated in a while. You guys are awesome. Anyways, onto the long awaited chapter!**

Chapter 10

Yusei, Jack, and Kalin glared down at their fallen opponents. After they had beaten them they had busted their duel disks.

Jack looked at them with disgust as he said, "You call that a duel? That was pathetic."

Kalin crossed his arms as he said, "You better hope you never see The Enforcers ever again."

Yusei clenched his hands into fists and said, "You tell Sayer that Akiza is with us now. She doesn't want any part of the Arcadium Movement. You tell him to leave her alone and find someone else."

And with that, all three turned around and continued on their way. Yusei stopped for a second and grabbed Akiza's duel disk that was still on the ground.

Those guys had said that there were two others after her. If they had already found her and Crow, she could be in serious trouble. She may even be gone already.

Yusei tucked the duel disk under his arm as he started to run. "Come on guys! He said that there were two others out there, and Akiza doesn't have her duel disk! We gotta find them before they find her."

* * *

Akiza felt relief when she spotted the shack. It felt like she had been gone for days and not just a couple of hours. She had started to feel like this was her home.

Akiza looked over at Crow and said, "I'm gonna get some of those pain pills when we get inside, but you're coming with me and showing me where that water pump is."

Crow grinned as he held the door open for her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Besides, I think I'll take a couple of those pills myself."

Akiza saw the pill bottle on the table and shook out a couple of pills, then handed the bottle over to Crow. After he got a couple of pills himself, he led her back out of the shack and headed to the back. Akiza followed in silence, memorizing his every move so that she would know how to get her own water. Crow walked only a few feet and stopped at what looked like a small pipe sticking out of the ground.

Akiza lifted her eyebrows as she said, "This is the water pump?"

Crow's surprised face lifted to hers as he started pumping water from the small pipe. "Yeah, haven't you ever used one before?"

Akiza slid the pills into her mouth and cupped her hand under the gushing water as she shrugged and said, "Well, no. I had never even seen one much less use one."

Crow watched as she brought the water to her mouth to swallow the pills. "You mean you came out here to use the pipe and you didn't even know what it looked like?"

Akiza felt embarrassment and anger rising as she said, "I didn't know I would have trouble finding it!"

Crow shook his head and said, "Why didn't you say anything? One of us would have showed you where it was and how to work it."

Akiza wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then said, "I don't like asking people for things. I can do things on my own you know."

Crow rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Well, yeah, I know, but still, you need to learn to ask things that you don't know about. How are you going to learn how to do things if you don't ask?"

Akiza opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it back shut. He was right. She had always depended on herself for things. But now that she had friends, a family, she had to be willing to ask for their help when they needed it.

Akiza sighed and said, "I know Crow. You're right. I've just never really had anyone that was willing to help me out. I promise to ask next time I need help."

Crow grinned as he stepped aside and said, "Good. Now, I need you to pump the water for me now. Usually I do it for myself, but just consider it practice for when you need to get water again."

Akiza smiled as she grabbed the handle with her good hand and started pumping like she had seen him do. "Like this?"

Crow smiled as the water came gushing out. "Yeah, just like that."

* * *

The closer they got to the shack, the more panic Yusei felt. What if he got there and they weren't there? What if Crow was there, but Akiza was gone? What if those guys had taken both Crow and Akiza? What if-

They were in the back pumping water. Yusei felt his body relax as he slowed his running to a weary walk. He felt overwhelming relief to see Akiza and Crow pumping water from the water pump, laughing and having fun. They must've not met the other two guys that were out there.

Yusei took a deep breath as he continued walking towards the house, Jack and Kalin right behind him.

Akiza was laughing at Crow when she lifted her head and saw Yusei, Jack, and Kalin walking towards them. She stopped pumping as relief flooded her body. Crow looked up to see why she had stopped laughing and grinned when he saw the rest of the team walking their way.

Crow looked over at Akiza as he said, "I told you not to worry. We aren't known as the toughest duelists for nothing."

Akiza smiled as she ran towards the rest of the gang as she yelled, "Yusei, Jack, Kalin, I was so worried!"

Akiza stopped herself right before she threw herself into Yusei's arms. She didn't know why, but she wanted to jump into his arms and bury her face in his chest. Instead she walked over and gave him a brief hug. The hug lasted only a second, then she walked over and also gave Jack a hug.

Jack's eyes widened as her arm wrapped around him. He blushed as he looked into Yusei and Crow's grinning faces. "Uh, yeah, thanks."

Akiza released him, sensing his nervousness, and walked over to Kalin. She hesitated a brief second, but finally leaned into him and wrapped her arm around him too.

Kalin immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Akiza's eyes widened as she felt a little fear surfacing. She dropped her arm and tried to pull away, but he still hadn't released her yet. She gave a slight tug to send him the message that she wanted to be released and he reluctantly let her go, not wanting to cause a scene in front of his friends.

Yusei had seen what Kalin had done and the slightly frightened look on Akiza's face when he had finally let her go. He was puzzled over his friend's actions and felt a little angered over them as well. He didn't know why he was so angry, but he knew he didn't like the way Kalin was looking at her.

Jack interrupted his thoughts when he yawned and said, "Well, now that the entertainment portion of today is over, I plan on grabbing me a bag of chips and going to sleep."

Akiza yawned herself and decided that he had a good idea. "I'm a little tired myself. Please excuse me."

Yusei watched as Jack and Akiza walked into the shack and closed the door behind them.

Yusei turned his gaze to Crow's and asked, "Did you run into any trouble on your way here?"

Crow sighed and rubbed at the small of his back as he said, "Yeah, we did. We were almost here when all of a sudden these two goons dressed like those three that you guys dueled showed up. They knew Akiza didn't have her duel disk and pretty much demanded that I hand her over to them."

Yusei had been surprised at his answer. He had thought that they hadn't met up with the other two men when he had seen Akiza and Crow standing unharmed in the backyard.

Kalin crossed his arms in annoyance as he said, "Well? What happened?"

Crow grinned and said, "Man, it was awesome! Since Akiza didn't have her duel disk or deck, she had to use mine! And let me tell you, my Blackwing Bora of the Spear looked pretty awesome pounding those losers!"

Yusei blinked in surprise as he said, "You mean she summoned a monster?"

Crow nodded his head as his grin widened. "Yeah, and it was my monster! It was so cool! I thought her Rose Tentacles had looked pretty intimidating, but it was nothing compared to my Blackwing Bora of the Spear! I wished I had caught it on tape or something!"

Yusei shook his head in amusement as he chuckled and said, "I'll never understand how you think Crow. I am glad that Akiza was able to get you out of a sticky situation though."

Crow's jaw dropped as he felt insulted. "Did you not hear me when I said that it was _my_ card and duel disk that got us out of the 'sticky situation'?"

Yusei headed towards the door as he said, "Yeah, but without her powers your card would've been useless."

Crow scowled at Yusei and said, "Man, I don't even get credit when I save the day."

Yusei chuckled as he entered the shack. Akiza was slouched in a chair, obviously asleep, while Jack was shoving chips in his mouth. Yusei walked over to the chest and pulled out a blanket. He then walked back to where Akiza was sleeping in the chair and gently laid the blanket over her. He watched as she grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up further as she shifted her body to a more comfortable position.

Jack swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "You know, I never really liked hanging out with girls. Usually they're whiney and clingy, and they do nothing but give you a headache and get on your nerves. But there's something different about this one."

Yusei nodded as he walked over to grab something to eat. "Yeah, she's different alright."

* * *

When Yusei had gone inside, Kalin had turned to Crow and said, "Tell me, what was it like?"

A puzzled looked clouded his face as he asked, "Uh, what was what like?"

Kalin rolled his eyes and grabbed Crow's shoulders and gave him a slight shake. "Akiza's powers! What was it like? Is she as powerful as I thought?"

Crow jerked his shoulders from Kalin's grasp as he said, "Dude, is something wrong? You're acting all weird. I think today's stress has gotten to you. Maybe you need to go to sleep."

Kalin's temper flared as his eyes narrowed. "Nothing is wrong with me! Now tell me, what was it like?"

Crow didn't know what was up with Kalin, but he knew that he wouldn't leave him alone until he got his answer. "Well, you know, it was just like in a duel, except it was really there. She told the monster what to do, and it did it. I could tell that she didn't want to do it, but it's not like we had any choice. She doesn't like to hurt people, Kalin."

Kalin ignored that last sentence as everything else he said sank in. This was better than he thought! If the monster did everything she told them to do, then that would help him with his plans even more!

Kalin smiled as he turned around and headed towards the door. "Excellent. Get a good night's rest Crow, we'll be busy tomorrow."

Crow watched as Kalin entered the shack. There was something weird going on with Kalin, and it had something to do with Akiza.

* * *

Sayer strummed his fingers on his desk as he listened to one of his spies reporting on what had happened.

"Sir, we found Ms. Izinski. She's in the Satellite even as we speak."

Sayer's fingers had froze when he had heard that they had found Akiza. Sayer interrupted him when he said, "You found Akiza? Did you collect her?"

The man rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Well, no sir, but-"

Sayer slammed his fist on the desk, effectively cutting off the man's words, and hissed, "What? Are you trying to tell me that she's still there? I sent five men to collect her! Five! Five men, and you can't get one girl half your size?"

The man swallowed past the fear clogging his throat and said, "It's not what you think, sir. There were four men with her, and they wouldn't let her leave with us. Three of our men were challenged to duel by three of them while their fourth man took Ms. Izinski and ran off. Then our other two men were found unconscious in an alley, possibly because of an attack by Ms. Izinski."

Sayer listened intently to the information as he resumed strumming his fingers on the desk. "So, Akiza has found some friends that are willing to help her."

Sayer flicked his wrist at the man and said, "Leave, you've done enough damage already."

The man nodded and walked to the door, but before he exited he turned around and said, "When do you want us to go back into Satellite, sir?"

Sayer shook his head and said, "No, you're duties in this matter are over. I shouldn't have sent you in the first place. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to take care of this problem personally."

The man nodded, slightly bowed, then exited Sayer's office, closing the door behind him.

Sayer walked over to the intercom and pressed a button. "Have a chopper ready for my use at 10:00 am sharp."

After a brief pause he heard a faint, "Yes, sir."

Sayer walked over to his window and looked out into the direction of Satellite.

"You may have escaped today Akiza, but I promise that it won't be that easy once I find you."

**And there we go! I just HAD to throw in some Akiza/Crow bonding...I just love him :) I also threw in some Sayer at the end, just to give you guys a peek at what's coming up. Okay, now to answer some of the reviews :**

**1. I deeply apologize about the spelling error with Blackwing Bora of the Spear! I almost smacked myself when I saw that I made that error. I'll try to not make that mistake again. Thank you for pointing it out :)**

**2. Hmmmmm, alot of people want Kalin to become a good guy in the end. Well, I can't say because I want to give nothing away...but I have special plans for him. But he has to be the way he is now so my story plot will flow as I want it to**

**3. Okay, someone asked me about Carly. I'm not a big fan of her, and I wasn't planning on bringing her into the story, but if you guys want her, I shall put her in. I write to please you, so just let me know because if no one wants her then I'm not going to really bother with her, but if you tell me you want her I'll put her in.**

**4. You want Black Rose Dragon? Wish granted! Obviously not in this chapter, but I DID put it in, and it's coming up soon :D**

**5. Now, don't assume that Akiza is going to be manipulated. Yes, she kinda was in the show, but I personally want to show Akiza as a mentally and physically strong individual that can stand up for herself and not fall into manipulation. I just HATE it when authors just show a vulnerable and used Akiza! But that's just me :)**

**6. Okay, one person seriously torched my story. Now, I'm not complaining because that is what you think and you're entitled to your opinion, but seriosly, if you don't like it, I am not forcing you to read it. Are my characters a little OC? Sure, I guess so, but unless you created the characters yourself, then it is almost impossible to get them totally correct. Akiza just has an instant connection with Yusei, she even had one in the show, so I have nothing further to say about that one. And about Kalin...everyone always has a different opinion on him. If you think he's more the kinda guy to be all jolly about everything and put his friends first, then kudos to you...but he is NOT that way in my story. Seriously, even watching the show you can see a dark side to him...I just reached down and pulled that dark side to the surface. Okay, I have vented. I meant none of that to be rude, I'm just answering your review.**

**Okay, thats about it! I enjoy reading every single reveiw (maybe excepty for that single flame ;) ), but you have no idea the smile it brings to my face. I will seriously try to get the next review in sooner, but I can make no promises. I will say that I will NOT abandon this story, even if it takes me a long time to finish.**

**Anyways, leave me a review, tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back, and with a new chapter! :)**

**Sorry it took a while, I had to write a 15 page English paper...now, I love to write and everything, but 15 pages? That was a little much, even for me lol**

**Anyways, here's the long, awaited chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter 11

Akiza stretched as she yawned. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept so peacefully. She rubbed her eyes with her fists and looked around. Crow was slouched down in the other chair, fast asleep, with his chin digging into his chest. Yusei was lying on the floor beside her chair with his blanket balled underneath his head. Jack was sprawled out on the opposite side of her chair, his limbs stretched out in every direction. His mouth was wide open, with a little drool running down his chin, and his loud snores echoed off the walls of the shack.

Akiza smiled and held back the laugh that wanted to bubble out. She suddenly realized that Kalin wasn't there, and felt bad over the relief that she felt. She slowly stood up, holding the blanket in her hand, and stretched out her sore muscles. She stepped quietly over Jack's body and walked over to the chest so she could fold and put away her blanket.

After the blanket was put away, she grabbed a banana and headed back to her chair, unsure of what to do. She paused when something on the table caught her eye.

Her duel disk!

She was so glad that someone had grabbed it for her. Her duel disk and deck were the only things that she had ever kept. She sat down her banana and slid her good arm underneath her duel disk. She felt it attach to her arm and lifted to inspect it for any damage.

Nope, still in perfect condition, and her deck was still safely secured in her duel disk. She smiled as she picked her banana back up and walked over to her chair.

She sat in the chair and looked down at her banana. She frowned as she realized how difficult it would be to peel the banana with one hand. She stuck the end of the banana between her knees, holding it in place, then used her good hand to peel the banana. She smiled once her banana was peeled and took a bite.

She was getting ready to take her second bite when she heard the door open. Her heart pounded as she stood and quickly turned to the door. She watched as Kalin walked in, and expected to feel some sort of relief, but instead her heart just constricted in her chest.

She watched as he lifted an eyebrow in amusement. She released the breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding and said, "Kalin, you scared me."

Kalin chuckled as he closed the door behind him and walked over to the small table. He pulled out a piece of paper as he said, "I hope you slept well last night."

Akiza forced herself to sit back down in the chair as she said, "Yes, of course."

Akiza darted a glance at Yusei and prayed that he'd wake up soon. She didn't like it when she was alone with Kalin, and since everyone else was asleep it was just like being alone with him.

Kalin spread the map out on the table as he said, "Come here Akiza. All these districts that are colored in are the ones where we've cleared all the gangs from."

Akiza slowly rose and walked over to the table, trying to not appear nervous. She glanced down at the map and noticed that it was a map of Satellite, and it was marked to show the different districts. She noticed that most of them were colored in.

As she studied the map, she asked, "What are you going to do once all the gangs have been beaten?"

Kalin chuckled and said, "Akiza, even with all the gangs defeated, there will always be others. Some gangs will come together, others will form new gangs, and all will try and beat us. I plan on making it so that we become number one and we stay that way. I want to rid Satellite of all duelists."

Akiza's confused face looked up into his as she said, "But I thought Yusei told me that you were doing this to make Satellite a safer place? What's wrong with other people dueling as long as they don't do anything wrong?"

Kalin's eyes glinted with something that she didn't recognized as he said, "It doesn't matter. The Enforcers will be the only duelists around Satellite. And with your help, lovely Akiza, this dream will become reality faster than I thought."

Akiza stood up, anger on her face, as she said, "I told you that I didn't want to duel. You said you weren't using me, but that's what it sounds like to me. You want me to use my powers to help you with your little plan, but it won't work."

Kalin also stood up as he said, "Just think about it Akiza, all the power, the fame. All of it ours. When we rid Satellite of all duelists, we can go on to New Domino City, on to bigger things and bigger fame."

Akiza threw her banana on the floor as she turned around and headed to the door. "I'm leaving."

Kalin felt his temper growing as he grabbed her arm and spun her around. "You're not going anywhere Akiza. You're staying here with me, and together we will be unstoppable!"

Akiza gritted her teeth and tried jerking her arm free as she hissed, "You're crazy! Let me go!"

Yusei heard some noise and slowly blinked his eyes open. He thought he was still dreaming when he saw Kalin pulling Akiza by the arm. Yusei soon realized that it wasn't a dream though and shot up.

Yusei ran over and pulled Kalin's hand off Akiza as he said, "What are you doing?"

Akiza stood behind Yusei, unsure of what to do but glad that he had woken up.

Kalin clenched his hands into fists as he said, "I'm doing what I should have done when she first came here! Don't you see? With her powers on our side, no one can stop us!"

Yusei blinked in surprise and said, "What's with you Kalin? Why are you acting like this? Akiza's our friend!"

Kalin rolled his eyes and said, "Yusei, don't you understand? We'll never amount to anything if we stay where we are. And with Akiza, we have the power to make Satellite completely ours! And once Satellite belongs to us, we can move on to New Domino City!"

By this time, Jack and Crow had woken up and had heard all of Kalin's plans for Akiza.

Crow blinked a few times, wondering if he was still asleep, then said, "I think Kalin's lost it."

Jack scowled and said, "I knew he was starting to act weird around her."

Yusei looked at Kalin and said, "Kalin, I know you don't really want to do this. What happened? Where's the Kalin that brought us together?"

Kalin gritted his teeth and said, "I've done nothing but grown wiser. I don't want to be a nobody forever Yusei, and Akiza is my ticket out of here."

Yusei reached behind him and grabbed her hand as he said, "I'm sorry Kalin, but I can't let you use her."

Jack stood up and walked over to the door. "I think it's best if you leave."

Kalin's jaw dropped open as he said, "Leave? Just because I want to do better with my life, you're kicking me out?"

Yusei shook his head as he said, "No Kalin, that's not why. You aren't the same as you were when we first made up the team. Back then, we only wanted to make Satellite a better place. But now you've let power get to your head. I won't let you hurt Akiza, and that's what you're going to do."

Kalin tightened his jaw and walked towards the door. He stopped and shot one last glare over his shoulder as he angrily hissed, "I'll be back, and when I am, I'm coming for you Akiza."

Akiza's face paled slightly paled as Kalin slammed the door behind him.

Did he just threaten her?

Yusei saw the distress on Akiza's face and gently cupped her cheek with his calloused hand. "Akiza, I swear that I'll never let anything happen to you."

Akiza lowered her eyes with shame as she said barely above a whisper, "Yusei, now both Sayer and Kalin are after me. Maybe it's best if I just left. That way you guys-"

Yusei cut her off as he said, "No! You're not going anywhere. Please, don't leave us. Don't leave…me. I…I need you with me. Promise me you'll stay."

Crow and Jack exchanged a knowing look, and with a sly grin from Crow and an annoyed eye roll from Jack they both sneaked out of the door, giving Yusei and Akiza some privacy.

Akiza felt her eyes water as she whispered, "But Yusei, they'll come after me. And I don't know what I'd do if any of you got hurt because of me."

Yusei gently caressed her cheek with his thumb as he whispered, "Don't leave me Akiza. Please, don't leave me."

Akiza's breath caught in her throat as she listened to Yusei's emotional plea. No one had ever asked her to stay with them before.

Akiza leaned into his warm hand as she said, "I…I don't want to leave. I…I really like being here with you guys…being here with…you."

Yusei grinned with joy as he said, "I like having you here. So, does that mean you'll stay? Promise?"

Akiza giggled as she gazed up into Yusei's hopeful face. "Yes, I'll stay, and that's a promise."

Yusei's grin widened as he pulled her into a passionate embrace, his sudden joy overflowing. He bent down, his face nuzzling her neck, and whispered in her ear, "Akiza, I really like you."

Akiza's face reddened as a shiver ran down her spine. "I….I really like you too Yusei."

Yusei pulled back slightly so he was staring down into her shimmering amber eyes. "Akiza, can I kiss you?"

Akiza felt her blush deepen as she silently nodded her head. A small smile curved his lips as his head slowly lowered. Akiza's good arm snaked its way behind his neck, her fingers carefully dipping into his soft hair. Yusei's hand continued to cradle her cheek as his other hand pressed into the small of her back, gently pressing her body into his.

Maybe things were moving too fast, but she couldn't even find the will to even care as she gazed into those sapphire eyes that plagued her every dream. How could something that felt _so right_ be considered wrong?

Akiza's breath hitched in her throat as his lips continued to descend upon hers, his breath warm against her face. Her eyes fluttered closed on their own as Yusei's lips gently brushed against hers, causing a jolt of electricity to ignite her body.

Then she felt soft warmness when Yusei's lips finally captured hers in a perfect first kiss. Akiza gasped in surprise at the feeling, her heartbeat quickly picking up speed.

His kiss was gentle, expressing how much he really cared for her.

Akiza felt like her body was going to explode from the pleasure. Her body was tingling as her fingers clutched his hair in her fingers. Within seconds the kiss was deepened, both Akiza and Yusei's breathing accelerating. Akiza tightened her arm around Yusei's neck, bringing her closer to his body. Yusei snaked his arm completely around her tiny waist, pulling her as close to him as possible. His hand that rested against her cheek slid forward until his fingers were tangled in her hair.

Akiza sighed with pleasure, and Yusei took that opportunity to gently slide his tongue into her mouth. Akiza shivered with pleasure as his tongue explored her mouth, making her want more, and with a pleasing shyness, she copied his movements. He caught her tongue between his lips, gently sucking on it. Akiza moaned with pleasure as Yusei's hand slowly slid up her shirt to caress her bare skin.

Their mouths continued to move against each other with sudden passion as Yusei's hand pressed against her bare back. Akiza's arm slid off of his neck and traveled down his chest to the edge of his shirt. With quick movements, her hand gently slid up his shirt, her fingers sliding over his quivering muscles. Yusei moaned into her mouth, his lust and pleasure evident.

They were so enthralled with each other that they didn't even hear the two other men entering the shack.

The sound of someone clearing their throat filled the room, causing the new couple to break apart from their kiss with blushes staining both of their cheeks.

Crow grinned as he eyed his two friends and said, "Well, it's a good thing we came in when we did, or else there's no telling how far you two would have gone."

Akiza's blush darkened as she buried her head against Yusei's shoulder, hoping to hide the embarrassment etched on her face.

Jack rolled his violet eyes as he said, "Whatever. Are we going to do something today or are you two going to make out in the middle of the cabin?"

Yusei cleared his throat, silently willing his blush to fade as he said, "Uh…well, I was thinking that we should probably show Akiza around some. That way she'd know which territories are safe and which aren't."

The orange-haired duelist ran to the door with renewed energy as he yelled, "Well, come on! We're wasting daylight here!"

* * *

Sayer smirked with malice as his helicopter flew through the air. He glanced down at his duel disk on his arm as he mentally went over his plan once again.

A low chuckle escaped his lips as his fingers brushed over his deck of cards.

She may be a psychic, but no one was better than he.

He'd give her one more chance to come on her own, but after that….he'd resort to using force.

The pilot looked at Sayer over his shoulder as he said, "Sir, we will be reaching our destination within the next few minutes."

Sayer's grin widened as he nodded to the young pilot, then returned his gaze to the device strapped to his arm. "Soon Akiza, you shall be mine, and together we shall rule the world of dueling monsters!"

**And that's chapter 11! **

**Now, to answer some reviews:**

**1. Lots of conflict with Carly. So, to settle this, I'm opening a poll on my account! I've never done this before, so I'm pretty excited! XD For those who want Carly, I've thought long and hard and I've found the perfect place for her if you want her. For those of you who don't want Carly, that would be just fine because I have another person in mind to fill her place that I like but won't mention because they will DEFINATELY be in the story and I don't wanna ruin any surprises! So, go to my poll, take a quick vote (it will only take a few seconds) and let me know what the people want! ^_^**

**2. I appreciate your understanding of my lenghty periods between updates. I'll really try and get the next one out quicker, and I promise that I will do my best to see this story to the end! I hate things half-done...including stories**

**3. Yes, I know some people will not agree with what I made Kalin do, but I PROMISE that he is doing this for a reason. Most of you will be surprised on how I mold his character later on in the story, so just keep an open mind. If I didn't make him this way, then my story plot would be ruined...but like I said, maybe I'll surprise you later! (I like surprises) ;)**

**4. Don't worry, my face was BEAMING with a wide smile when I read your review FudoTwin17 ;)**

**5. Alot of you like Sayer and the dramatic things he inspires in my plot...well, this is great for you because he is a MAJOR part of next chapter! And those of you who wanted Black Rose Dragon...just check out the next chapter ;)**

**6. Finally! I did the long-awaited kiss! I hope everyone found it as sentimental as I did. It was long awaited, so I threw in a little bit of steam as well ;) (But nothing improper for this rating! I checked!)**

**And I believe that's it! Once again, vote on my poll, and I'll tell you the results on my next update!**

**Thank you for the reviews, they literally kept me writing ;)**

**Now, tell me whatcha think, any questions, anything! Leave a review!**

**Until next time! :P**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, by some miracle I was able to get this out, even though I have finals this week. But I was determined to get something out before Christmas, and I have fufilled that goal.**

**So, now I REALLY need to study for finals and write a 12 paper essay...hehe ;)**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter 12

Akiza smiled widely as she walked through the streets of the Satellite, Yusei's hand tightly grasping hers. She couldn't remember a time when she felt such happiness.

Crow was walking along beside her, chatting away about whatever popped into his head. Yusei was on her other side, smiling softly and giving her soft glances every few minutes. Jack was walking a few steps behind them, stating that he had to create some distance between himself and Crow before he was driven insane.

And Akiza was in the middle of it all, loving the way that they acted like a small family.

Family…what she always wanted, and now had.

It was more than she ever dreamt it would be.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Yusei suddenly stopped, his hand unconsciously tightening its hold on hers.

Akiza's eyes darted around the empty street as she anxiously whispered, "Yusei, what is it?"

Jack and Crow had immediately activated their duel disks, their faces set with determination as they gazed off into the darkened corners of the street.

Silence filled the street, not even the wind disturbed the tension filled air. All three men were tensed and ready for action, the only female's hand rested on her deck strapped to her waist.

Yusei's eyes narrowed as he quietly stated, "Someone's following us."

Akiza gasped quickly as she quickly scanned the area, unable to detect any sign of a stalker. "Are…are you sure Yusei?"

He nodded his head as his blue eyes took in every detail in front of him. "Yes, I'm positive."

Jack's violet eyes burned with fury and impatience as he took a brave step forward and yelled, "Come on out bastard! We know you're there!"

Deep chuckles erupted from the dark corner of the street, causing everyone's eyes to whip over into that direction. Slowly a form appeared from the shadows, causing Akiza's heart to accelerate as the cloaked figure said, "Well done. I must say, I'm impressed that a mere Satellite could detect me."

Akiza's hand flew to her mouth as she took a quick step back from shock and fear. "S-Sayer!"

Sayer fully stepped out into the sunlight, a malicious grin adorning his face as he said, "Ah, so you remember me Black Rose Witch."

Yusei glared at the man as he protectively moved in front of Akiza and said, "Don't call her that! She's not a witch!"

Sayer blinked in surprise, then shrugged with indifference as he said, "It makes no difference to me what she's called. Anyways, I've come to take you to the Arcadium Movement my dear."

Before Akiza could answer, Yusei had taken a step closer to Sayer as he said, "Sorry Sayer, but Akiza doesn't want to go with you."

The young man's eyes narrowed as his jaw tightened with annoyance. "I do believe that this is of no concern to you."

Blue eyes blazed with passion as Yusei's hands clenched tightly into fists. "Akiza's not going with you, and that's final!"

Sayer sighed wearily as he activated his duel disk and pulled out one of his cards. "I must say, you're really starting to get on my nerves. Now, I won't say this again. This is of no concern to you."

Yusei opened his mouth to retort until Akiza quickly stepped in front of Yusei, her own duel disk activated as she said, "I'm not going with you, now please leave before I lose my temper."

The psychic man sighed as he shook his head with disappointment and said, "Akiza, I was hoping that it wouldn't come down to this, but you leave me no choice. Since you won't come of your own free will, I guess I'll just have to persuade you to come instead."

Akiza's eyes widened as Sayer slapped a card on his duel disk, causing several balls of fire to come soaring towards Akiza and her new friends. Before she even knew what she was doing, Akiza had slammed down a card on her own duel disc, causing large vines to shoot out of the ground, creating a protective wall around herself and her friends. The fireballs hit the vines with loud booms, catching their protection on fire and making it wither away.

All three guys watched in astonishment as the wall of vines crumbled away, leaving ash and soot on the ground. Crow's gray eyes bugged out of his head as he gazed at the psychic man in front of them. "You tried to set us on fire!"

Jack scoffed as he slapped Crow on the back of his head. "Of course he did you dolt! Anyone with half a brain could see that!"

Yusei ignored the fight that was soon to start between the two young men, even in the situation they were in. He took a step towards Akiza, reaching for his deck attached to his belt, but froze when Akiza's frightened amber eyes snapped to his.

She lifted a quivering hand, a silent message for him to stop as she said, "No Yusei! You can't come any closer!"

Yusei stopped, a frown marring his features as he began to protest. Akiza just shook her head and interrupted him as she said, "Please Yusei, I have to do this alone. You could get hurt going against him. I'm the only one who can do this."

Although the last thing he wanted to do was to let her do this on her own, he knew that she needed to do this for not only them, but herself. With a hesitant nod, Yusei took a small step backwards, but kept his deck ready just in case he had to step in.

Sayer chuckled as an evil grin spread across his face. "I must say, the Satellite sure does produce some entertaining citizens."

Jack's violet eyes narrowed angrily as he raised a clenched fist and yelled, "Hey, I dare you to say that to my face you psychic moron!"

A chuckle was Jack's only answer as Sayer shook his head in pity. "As entertaining as it is to bait you with words, I do have some business to attend to."

Akiza snatched a card from her deck as she clearly stated, "Your visit was wasted, because I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you."

Sayer's grin just widened as he whipped out a couple more cards from his deck and said, "I beg to differ, my dear."

And with that he slammed down another card onto his duel disc.

Akiza gasped with surprise as a large figure slowly molded in front of her eyes. Her eyes slowly widened as she took in the expanse of the beast now completely formed in front of her.

Sayer beamed with pride as he said, "Akiza, meet my Psychic Snail."

The beast in front of her looked quite intimidating.

It looked like a large snail, but it had such horrifying features.

The creature glared at Akiza, much like an eagle would its prey. Its razor sharp teeth were bared and a bit of foam bubbled up around its mouth. Low growls escaped its mouth, causing its body to vibrate with the intention to kill. Before the snail had any chance of attacking her defenseless, Akiza quickly pulled out her ace card and slammed it on her own duel disc as she yelled, "I call upon my mightiest beast! I summon Black Rose Dragon!"

A bright light shone as the powerful dragon seemed to appear out of thin air, bellowing a mighty roar to announce its' arrival. But although Akiza's ace monster was menacing, Sayer just softly laughed as he shook his head. His olive eyes connected with hers as he said in a voice reserved for a small child, "Now Akiza, you know that your Black Rose Dragon won't be able to stop me."

Akiza's eyes narrowed with determination as she glared at the man across from her. "It will do more than stop you. Now, Black Rose Dragon, demolish that Psychic Snail!"

The members of The Enforcers watched with stunned awe as the large dragon tilted its large head back and released a mighty roar, preparing to obliterate its opponent, but before an attack could be made Sayer's green eyes widened with malice as he screamed, "Now!"

Yusei's eyes widened as a large blast sounded through the area, causing him to fly to the ground from the force. Smoke blinded his eyes and filled his lungs, causing him to cough and sputter uncontrollably. Then, as if remembering what had happened before the sudden blast, Yusei jerked his head up with a gasp, which only served to cause a blinding pain to shoot through his skull as another fit of coughs wracked his body.

Yusei's body shook with effort as he unsteadily climbed to his feet, fear and anxiety making him unstable. He desperately looked around him, praying to catch just a glimpse of Akiza's magenta hair. But it proved useless, for the only thing he could see was the foggy smoke.

His hands reached blindly in front of him as he yelled with a strained voice, "Akiza!"

His heart pounded in his chest so hard and fast that the only thing he could hear was its desperate rhythm. His body felt so tired, but adrenaline forced his legs to continue moving as his arms swung out in front of him, trying to remember exactly where Akiza had been standing when the blast had happened.

"Akiza! Akiza, where are you? Can you hear me?"

Why wasn't she answering? Is she hurt? Did that Sayer guy do something to her?

What was going on?

Yusei felt like knives were stabbing into his skull, and his body was starting to feel heavier with each step. But he wouldn't give up.

He wouldn't…._couldn't_…..lose Akiza.

Even as he dropped to his knees, he called out her name one last time as his vision faded to black.

* * *

A sickening smile spread across Sayer's face as he watched one of his followers gently place the unconscious girl on the bed in the back of his plane. After making sure she was securely strapped in, the man whirled to face Sayer, gave a respectable nod, then quickly rushed back to the front of the plane.

The plane stirred to life shortly after, ready for takeoff.

Sayer lowly chuckled as he strapped himself into his seat, his eyes never leaving the psychic girl's body.

He lifted his arm and gently caressed her pale cheek, brushing aside the wayward strands of her hair. "You thought you could get away. You thought you could escape me, Sayer, the greatest psychic duelist in all of New Domino city."

His wild eyes quickly darted over to glance at the small box nestled in the chair beside him. His grin widened as he gently lifted the box as carefully as one would a newborn baby, and placed the package in his lap.

"You should have known that you couldn't escape me Akiza."

With careful finger he lifted the lid of the box and laid it back on the empty seat.

"And now that I finally have you, you cannot escape me again."

He lifted what seemed to be a collar and smoothly ran his fingers over the device. It was smooth and slightly cold due to the metal plates on the inside of the color, each one connected by a thin wire. His maddening grin widened as a quick shiver shot up his spine.

Then, in only a matter of seconds, he quickly placed it around the girl's slim neck and snapped it in place.

He chuckled once again as he ran his fingers over the collar now strapped around her neck and leaned over so that his mouth was next to her ear as he whispered, "Because now you are _mine_!"

**Now my plot is really coming to a head! I've been anxious to get it here though, so I'm happy. I'm not sure how much longer this story will be...I guess it just depends :D**

**Anyways, answers to your reviews:**

**1. First of all, my poll. You can believe my shock when I had a tie between either having Carly or not! My 'solution' didn't solve anything! So, I'm just going to wing it with her. If it feels right I'll do it, if not oh well. I'm not that worried about it though, because I don't think she would've made such a big part anyways...but we'll see.**

**2. Yes, before I get any complaints, I am aware that this chapter is slightly shorter. But please keep in mind that I have finals this week, and I thought something was better than nothing. I apologize for the length, and I promise to start working on the next chapter once finals are over.**

**3. Please, don't send me messages and reviews that tell me that you don't like things 'half-done' and that I 'need' to update. Really, I have other obligations (such as school and family) and writing is something I do for my pleasure. I do write in my spare time, and I have two other stories started, one other one already posted. But I promise, I WILL finish this story, no matter how long it takes. Just have faith, stick with me, and send me your lovely reviews, for they are what truly inspires me to write.**

**4. I didn't even notice my last update was on 11/11/11, but how cool was that? Thanks for pointing that out ;D**

**5. I promise, if for some reason Carly is not in my story, I WILL NOT make an OC or anything to be with Jack. Actually, I try and stray from making OC's because I believe it takes away the actual meaning to Yugioh 5D's, or whatever you're writing for. And my personal opinion is that I don't like most OC's that people make (not saying that I dislike EVERY OC), but that's just my opinion. I usually don't read stories with OC's, so I write by my own opinion, which is writing something that I could see myself reading.**

**6. Will Kalin be back? ...well, I don't want to give anything away, but I'm pretty sure we'll see him in the near future...but I'll keep why a surprise ;P**

**Okay, I believe that's it! Now, my adored readers, leave me your wonderful reviews, for they are truely what motivates me to write.**

**Thank you! ^_^**


	13. Chapter 13

**I apologize for the wait, but my laptop had finally died on me. So, after finally purchasing a new one, I had to figure out how to move all of my files over to my new laptop, which was definately not easy. **

**Anyways, after working hard to update both my stories, I have finally uploaded another chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 13

"_I wonder why she's here?"_

Although Akiza couldn't find the strength to open her eyes, strange voices penetrated her thoughts.

"_Shut up Leo! You're going to wake her up!"_

Akiza slightly moaned as her brow furrowed on her head. She strained to open her eyes, yet the only response received from her efforts was a brief fluttering of her eyelids.

"_I am not Luna! I'll have you know that I am doing a great job of keeping my voice down!"_

Akiza slowly blinked her eyes, her vision still blurry as she looked at the white ceiling. "Wh…where am I?"

A blur of green popped in front of her face as a girl's voice answered, "You're at the Arcadia Movement in New Domino City. You're my new roommate!"

Akiza groaned as she closed her eyes. "No way, I can't be here right now."

"Uh," a boy's voice was heard, "considering that you're sitting right in front of my face, I'm pretty sure that you're here. By the way, what kind of necklace are you wearing, lady?"

"Leo," the girl chided, "don't be rude."

Akiza's eyes sprang open as she quickly sat up, ignoring her protesting muscles. "Necklace? What necklace?"

Her shaking hands rubbed at her neck, then froze when she felt the cold contraption securely strapped to her neck, as if it were some kind of collar.

"Wh-what is this? What's going on? How did this get here?"

The small girl with green hair quickly stood from her bed and made her way to the panicking woman. "Hold on, I'll see if I can get it off."

Akiza forced herself to take deep breaths as the young girl fidgeted with the contraption, the young boy's head tilted to the side as his brows furrowed in concentration as he watched. "My name's Akiza."

The young girl's head popped back into her vision, a smile beaming on her angelic face. "My name's Luna, and I'm going to be your new roommate. Over there's my brother Leo, he's just visiting."

Akiza gave the two a weak smile as she felt the little girl's fingers once again move over the metal around her neck. Her heart was thundering in her chest as several thoughts passed quickly through her mind.

Why did Sayer bring her here?

What _was _this thing on her neck?

What happened to Yusei and the others?

…..where in the world was her deck and duel disk?

"Where's my duel disk?"

Luna jumped at the sudden shout that came from the woman. "Your what?"

"My duel disk," Akiza repeated as she frantically glanced over the room, "and my deck! Where are they?"

Leo's frown deepened as he said, "I dunno, you didn't have one when they brought you in here."

"It has to be somewhere!" Akiza's breaths were coming out in pants now. She needed to seriously calm down before she had a panic attack.

It had been years since she's felt this helpless.

And she couldn't help but feel that she was at the mercy of Sayer.

"I'm sorry Akiza," Luna suddenly said as she sat back, "but I can't get that thing off."

Akiza took deep breaths as she ran shaky hands through her hair. "Oh God, this can't be happening to me."

What in the world was she going to do now? Without her duel disk and deck, there was nothing she could do. The only thing she had to rely on was the two small children in front of her.

"Luna," she suddenly said, her head snapping up to look at the small green-haired girl, "you're living at the Arcadia Movement, so that means you're a psychic duelist, right?"

Luna bashfully rubbed the back of her neck as she shyly said, "Well…not exactly."

Akiza blinked in surprise. "Not exactly? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," the small girl continued, "I'm not really a psychic duelist, but I'm here for a slightly different reason."

"Luna can go to the spirit world!" Leo shouted, excitement glittering in his eyes.

A gasp escaped Akiza's mouth. "What? Really?"

"Uh-huh," Leo agreed, ignoring the small glare he was receiving from his sister. "But it's been a while since she's been. So, are you a psychic duelist?"

Akiza gave the eager boy a trembling smile as she murmured, "That's what they tell me. Hey Leo, if I remember correctly, you_ did _say that you were just visiting, right?"

Green hair flew through the air as the child eagerly bobbed his head. "Yeah, I don't have any cool powers or anything, but I can still kick serious butt with my awesome deck!"

Akiza returned his smile as she said, "I'm sure you can Leo. But listen, I need your help."

His eyes fairly popped out of his head as he scooted closer to the serious woman. "Yeah? What kind of help?"

"Well, you see, I didn't agree to come here. I was kidnapped by Sayer."

"Wow! That's so cool!"

"Leo!" Luna reprimanded, her face burning with embarrassment. "Don't be so rude!"

"It's alright Luna." Akiza cleared her throat and gazed back at the boy. "Anyways, my boyfriend, Yusei, is probably looking for me. I was wondering if you could find him for me."

Leo rubbed his chin as he thought. "Okay, but how do I know who this Yusei guy is? I've never met a Yusei before."

Akiza frowned as her fingers nervously played with each other on her lap. "Um…well, he's pretty tall, over 6', and he has dark hair with bright blond streaks. And his eyes….they're the darkest of blues yet are still so bright. He always looks so serious, but he's so sweet. And he'll probably be with a blond and red head."

"That sounded really girly." Leo's nose crinkled in distaste as Luna sighed at her brother.

"I thought it sounded romantic."

Leo scoffed as Akiza blushed. "So Leo? Will you help me?"

"Of course Akiza!" Leo exclaimed as he jumped from the bed and gave her a confidant pose. "I'll be like a hero!"

A small giggle escaped the girls' lips as they watched Leo proudly march from the room, his head held high as he broadly grinned, thinking of the wonderful buffet a hero would be presented.

* * *

Yusei frowned as he looked down at the map in front of him. "There has to be an easier way to get into New Domino City."

Once Yusei had woken up, he had been in the worst of moods. He was worried and jumpy, which wasn't a great combination, especially if your friends were Jack and Crow.

"There isn't another way," Jack said, his arms crossed tightly across his broad chest, a scowl present on his face. "The way Akiza got in Satellite is the only way we can get out."

"We could always swim across the water."

Jack's scowl deepened as he punched Crow on the back of his head. "Shut up you moron! For once use that miniscule brain that is present in your think head!"

Yusei ran a hand through his hair as he said, "Stop it guys, we don't have time for this. I think Jack is right, the only way to get to New Domino City is by going up the garbage chute. Now, the maintenance shuts down all activity of the garbage chute once a month for maintenance purposes, but that only last a few minutes. The only problem I see is getting through the entire garbage chute, in less than ten minutes, by just walking."

Crow's lips slowly spread into a wicked grin as he looked up at his two best friends. "I think I can solve our problem guys."

* * *

"I'm impressed," Jack conceded as he looked at the three duel runners, "for once you used your brain."

"Hey! I use my brain all the time!"

"Guys," Yusei reprimanded as he ran his hands over the smooth metal of the red machine, "we really don't have time for this. Now Crow, as much as this would solve our problems, I have to know where you got them. You didn't steal them…did you?"

Crow rolled his eyes as he lifted his leg and straddled the black runner. "Geez Yusei, do you always suspect me of stealing? Maybe I bought them or something."

A loud snort came from Jack as the blond leaned against the last duel runner. "Yeah right, and I suppose you got those marks on your face from being an upstanding citizen."

"Okay okay, maybe I didn't buy them," Crow said as he rubbed at the marks adorned on his face, "but it still doesn't mean that I stole them!"

"Then how did you get them?" Yusei calmly interrupted their argument, hoping to bring them back to their original topic.

"Oh, I found them in some of the areas that I scouted. I figured that some of the gang members that we defeated had left them or something. I just took them and spruced them up a bit. They run pretty good too, if I do say so myself."

A small smile finally appeared on Yusei's face, the first smile since Akiza had been taken. "Crow…you're a genius."

Crow beamed from the small praise as he looked over at Jack's disgusted face. "You hear that, pretty boy? I'm a genius!"

Jack just rolled his eyes and straddled his new machine. "Whatever, let's see what these runners can do."

* * *

Leo's posture was slumped and dejected as he shuffled through the littered streets of New Domino.

This was way too hard!

How the heck was he supposed to find this Yusei guy? He seriously should have thought about this more before he agreed to do this for Akiza.

But that hero's buffet just sounded so good…..

Leo sighed heavily once again, something he had been doing a lot of in the past couple of hours. His shoulders were slumped, as if he were carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. And honestly, that's really what he felt like right now.

He never realized just how _big_ New Domino City was. He had been searching for almost three hours now, and have even forgone dinner, just so he could find this guy and get his vastly earned reward. But if things continued as they have been for the past few hours, then there would definitely be no Yusei or buffet in Leo's near future.

Leo's bottom lip puckered into a pout as he kicked a stray can that was littered on the dark street. Maybe he should just give up for tonight and go home. He had already ran up to four different strangers, bouncing in excitement, and asking for their names. The first three guys had just given him an odd look, shook their head, and walked away. But the last guy he had gone up to had dropped what eerily looked like a woman's purse, screamed, and ran away like the devil himself was after him. So, after experiencing that awkward moment, Leo had been hesitant to approach any other strange men.

"Stupid Yusei," Leo murmured under his breath as he kicked the abused can once again, "you better have a sandwich when I find you."

"Did you just say….Yusei?"

Leo's green eyes snapped open as his head darted around, searching for the strange voice that had spoken. "What? Who's there?"

A deep chuckle echoed against the brick walls as Leo's wide eyes scanned the alley. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" A shadow was now apparent in Leo's vision. It was shaped like a man, and was slowly moving closer to Leo. Leo backed up as the stranger got closer, that is until his back met the cold brick wall. Leo's breaths were coming out in quick pants as his fingers dug into the creases of the bricks behind him. He couldn't remember a time when his heart was beating as fast and hard as it was now.

The shadow of the man stopped in front of Leo. "Why, I just wanted to offer my assistance."

Leo sank further into the wall as he practically screeched, "I don't need your help!"

Another chuckle filled the air as the stranger slowly bent down until his face was even with Leo's. "Actually, I believe you do. I know all about Yusei….and Akiza."

"How do you know Akiza?"

"How?" The stranger leaned forward until Leo was looking into the pale face of a young man, his silver-blue hair falling over his forehead and into his piercing eyes. "Let's just say that we have become close….._friends_ recently."

**And that is chapter 13. A little short, yes, but I wanted to give you guys something. Can anyone guess who cornered Leo in the alley? Yeah, its probably obvious, but it was still fun writing it. Maybe it was still a surprise, and that you werent expecting it. Anyways, response to your reviews.**

**1. Dont worry, I think this story will be finished soon. I'm not even sure if I'll make it to twenty chapters, but you never know.**

**2. Someone mentioned Kalin coming back...well, I hope your answer is found in this chapter ;)**

**3. Thank you for all the luck for my finals! I actually did really great ^_^**

**And that's about it. I was actually a little sad because I didnt get the response on the last chapter that I usually do...I hope that doesnt mean that I'm losing readers :(**

**I pray that I get better response for this chapter tho, because that's honestly what keeps me writing. **

**So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I eagerly await your wonderful reviews! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Akiza, still sitting on the bed, stared down at her hands as the small girl named Luna soothingly patted her knee. Although the gesture was small and simple, it provided Akiza with comfort and relaxed her stressed body.

"It's okay. Leo will find this Yusei guy, and everything will work out fine, you'll see!"

A small smile tipped Akiza's lips as she looked over at the optimistic girl. She only wished she could be that positive. But right now it seemed like nothing would ever be right again.

"I surely hope so Luna."

The cute girl beamed up at Akiza, showing off her small, white teeth and glittering green eyes. She was actually quite cute, both her and her identical twin. Not only were they cute, but they were also innocent.

What kind of parent would willingly put their child in this place? Much less a tender child such as Luna?

Akiza shook the negative thoughts from her head, determined to not bring down the young girl's positive spirit. Instead she grasped the small hand in her larger one and gave a gentle squeeze, hoping to give the small girl the same comfort that she had showed herself just moments before. "Thank you Luna. I don't know what I would have done, had it not been for both you and your brother."

Although Akiza had originally thought it impossible, Luna's smile widened even further as she returned Akiza's friendly squeeze. Luna's lips parted to say something in return, but before even the first syllable could be uttered the door was swung open, revealing a uniformed man.

"Akiza Izinski, you are wanted in the practice arena immediately."

A flash of panic flittered in Akiza's eyes before she quickly steeled herself and straightened her spine, determined to not show the budding of fear that was growing in the core of her body. "Yeah? And what if I don't want to go?"

A single black brow rose over shaded eyes. "It was not a suggestion, Ms. Izinski. I would strongly suggest that you comply, or punishment may be distributed."

Akiza was conflicted.

She _did not_ want to go anywhere with this strange man, and she was almost positive that wherever he took her, she would also find the Sayer guy that had brought her here. Being obedient to that man was the very last thing that she wanted to do.

On the other hand though, he _did_ say that she was going to a practice room, meaning that she would more than likely be getting her duel disk and deck. And she needed both her duel disk and deck, for without them she was as helpless as any other woman would be in her situation.

And he _did_ say that there could be a punishment….

"Fine," Akiza snapped as she shoved herself to her feet, trying to block the startled young girl's gasp from her mind, "I'll go to this practice room."

Satisfaction fairly oozed from the man as a smirk appeared on his dark features, making Akiza's fists tighten until her knuckles were white from the extreme pressure. "Good girl. Now, Divine has been waiting long enough, let's get a move on."

Ignoring the feeling that she was being talked to as if she were a dog, Akiza quickly sent Luna a reassuring smile, then turned and followed the strange man in front of her.

The only thing running through Akiza's mind as she was directed through the multiple halls and stairways was 'who the heck is Divine?'

* * *

Yusei's fingers tapped against his lips as he stared at the computer screen in though. Both Jack and Crow were arguing behind him, so instead of fraying his nerves even more with the nagging pair he simply ignored them.

Besides, he was used to their personalities crashing. He just wished that they would put aside their differences until Akiza was safely out of that man's grasp.

Yusei's head tilted in thought as he scrolled down the screen and read the time slots for when the garbage chute would be shut down for maintenance.

Dark brows rose in disbelief as he say the next available date. Tuesday? But that was almost a week away! There was no way that he could sit around for a week, just waiting while who-knows-what was happening to Akiza. A barely noticeable smile tilted his lips as he flexed his fingers and placed them over the keyboard.

Having delinquent friends was good for something.

Not fifteen minutes later, Yusei was leaning back in his seat, satisfaction apparent on his features. Now, instead of on Tuesday, the maintenance schedule was changed so that it was _tonight_.

"Hey, whatcha got there Yusei?"

Yusei tilted his head back to see wild red hair obscuring his view. "Crow, tonight's the night."

"Tonight?" Crow's brows rose on his forehead as he leaned down to stare in disbelief at the screen. "I can't believe we got that lucky! I was sure we wouldn't be able to do this for a few weeks or something!"

Keeping his satisfied smile to himself, Yusei just shrugged and stood from the chair, stretching his aching muscles in the process. "Guess luck was on our side this time. Get your stuff together, we leave in just a few hours."

No more waiting.

No more wondering what to do.

Tonight they would be going into New Domino City, and tonight he would be getting Akiza back.

And tonight….that Sayer guy would see that you do not mess with The Enforcers from Satellite.

* * *

Luna's large eyes held sadness as she sat on Akiza's bed.

Going to the practice arena was never a good thing. Of course, Luna had never actually practiced in there before, since she wasn't a psychic duelist, but she _had_ seen the effects it could have on one who was disobedient, or did something that wasn't acceptable.

Disobedience was unacceptable, and that was the very first lesson taught here.

And the lesson would be learnt, no matter what the price was.

Luna, although imprisoned here as well, considered herself lucky in a way. Yes, she had been to the spirit world on occasion, but she wasn't put through the grueling training that the psychic duelists were put through. Granted, there weren't many psychic duelists here anyways, for it was a rarity, but those that _were_ here were nothing but brainwashed soldiers for the man in charge.

Luna only hoped that Akiza would be strong enough to withstand this place until Leo found that Yusei guy.

The sound of a creaking door interrupted her thoughts.

Luna quickly looked up and saw her brother shuffle in the doorway. That was the only positive to this place. If Luna promised to remain silent about the goings-on here, then Leo would have free realm to visit.

"Leo! You're back!"

Leo remained standing at the doorway, looking down at the floor as he gave a slight bob to his head.

"…well? Did you find him?"

Luna watched as her brother froze. Confusion marred her pretty face. Why was Leo so quiet and stiff? He was never like this! "Leo? Is something wrong?"

The young boy sighed as he finally collapsed on the nearest bed. After a brief pause he then began talking, but due to the fact that his face was stuffed against a pillow, all Luna heard was muffled responses.

"Um…..Leo? I can't hear you because of the pillow."

With a low groan Leo rolled over, slinging his arm over his eyes in the process. In all honesty, he looked totally exhausted.

"Well Leo? Are you finally going to answer me?"

Leo slightly lifted his arm, causing identical green eyes to wearily peer at his twin sister as he said, "Well…..I found someone last night."

"Really?" A smile brightened on Luna's face as she practically bounced on the bed in excitement. "Is he coming to get Akiza?"

"Well…" Leo's arm slowly moved up until he was scratching at the back of his head. "It depends….who is this 'he' you are talking about?"

Luna fought the urge to roll her eyes and reminded herself to be patient with her brother. If she lost her temper with him now, she probably wouldn't ever get the answers she wanted. "I'm talking about Yusei, of course. You found him?"

Leo's only response was another grown as his arm once again slung over his eyes. "Well….not exactly."

Luna blinked her green eyes in confusion. There was something that he wasn't telling her…..

"What do you mean 'not exactly'? Either you found him, or you didn't."

"Okay!" Leo lunged his body forward until he was sitting on the bed. "I didn't find him, okay? But it doesn't even matter!"

"I don't understand what you're talking about, Leo!"

"You're not supposed to, Luna!"

"Well, if you didn't find Yusei, then who did you find?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes! That's why I'm asking!"

"Well, I can't tell you!"

Luna gave an exasperated sigh. Why was Leo talking in circles? " And why can't you tell me? You usually tell me everything!"

"Well, I can't tell you this," Leo said as he once again flopped down on the bed as if remaining sitting had taken all his energy, "I can't tell anyone….."

Luna paused at the hollow sound in his voice. Something was definitely not right. "Leo…..you know you can tell me if something is wrong….right?"

A heavy sigh filled the air. Luna watched as her twin brother wearily stood and shuffled his way back to the door. "Look, just forget I said anything. You'll understand tonight…..trust me."

And without another look at his sister, Leo left the room.

* * *

Akiza scowled as she glared at the smirking man in front of her. She put as much hate into her shimmering eyes as she hissed, "Sayer!"

The man simply tisked as he stood in the white-drawn box on the other end of the room. "Ms. Izinski, a pleasure to see you again. And, I must say, under much better circumstances, yes?"

"You lunatic!" Akiza jerked her arm away from the burly guy that had escorted her into this dueling room. "You kidnapped me! That's a federal crime!"

A low chuckle escaped Sayer's lips as he raised his hand and flicked it at the wrist, causing the burly man beside Akiza to quickly bow, then quietly exit the room, closing the door soundly behind him. "You belong here Akiza, with people like yourself. I can help give you control."

"I don't want_ anything_ from you!"

As soon as the last syllable left her mouth, Akiza collapsed on the floor with a cry, her hands coming up to claw at the pain on her neck. The shock only lasted a couple seconds, but it felt like decades to the panting girl. Wide, incredulous eyes looked up at Sayer, seeing the small remote in his hand and a disapproving look on his face.

"Now now Akiza, we mustn't act like that. You will be living here from now on, and you _will_ show respect to me….Divine."

Akiza's mind whirled as she pushed herself back to her feet. "Divine?"

"Yes, my child," Sayer say, lowering the remote back into his pocket until it would be needed again, "from now on, you shall refer to me as Divine. Now Akiza, let's have a small duel, just a quick one, to show me the power that you posses."

Akiza turned her head, seeing her duel disk and deck sitting on the table in the corner. She quickly walked to the table and strapped on her beloved disk, trying to keep her back to _Divine_ so that he couldn't possible see her mind whirl with the different possibilities now that she was now, once again, in possession of her loyal monsters.

But before she could slide her deck into her duel disk, that sharp pain stabbed her once again. She went down with a cry, her head knocking on the wooden table as she fell to the floor.

Sayer's voice sounded from across the room. "I know what you're thinking Akiza, and it won't work. You see, I can control every move you make. That lovely thing around your neck allows me to punish you with electrical shocks when you do something that displeases me…..almost like training a dog."

Akiza's head snapped up at the man, sweat staining her face and her breath coming out in pants. "You're a monster!"

Sayer only sighed in exasperation and pressed the device again, causing a small scream to escape his captive's lips. "I am _Divine_, and that is the _only _thing you shall call me! Now, get up Akiza, and show me the extent of your power!"

Akiza, her muscles quivering from the cruel punishment, pushed herself to her knees as she panted, "I…would rather…_die_….than obey…._anything_….that you say!"

Silence filled the room

Sayer's smile slowly faded from his face.

Akiza's eyes continuously glared at the hated man.

"Are you sure about that Akiza?"

Akiza's eyes narrowed as Divine pulled out another remote from his green, jacket pocket. "I believe I have something that will change your mind."

Akiza watched as Sayer clicked the single button, expecting more pain, but was surprised when instead a large television on the wall flickered on, showing her room and the small green-haired girl sitting sadly on her bed.

"Luna." Akiza gasped as her eyes darted back and forth between the girl on the television screen and the cruel man.

"Yes," Sayer said as he tapped his chin in thought, "you're little roommate. You see Akiza, if you disobey me, then your little friend here will get a collar, just like yours. How would you feel, Akiza, if that innocent child took on all of your punishment for you? Hmm?"

Akiza's eyes slammed closed with grief and her teeth gritted with anger.

She had no other choice.

She took a deep breath and used the table to heave herself to her feet.

She took uneven steps until she was also standing in a white-drawn box opposite from _Divine_.

She lifted her head and gave the gloating man one of her coldest glares, one that boasted of the Black Rose Witch.

She spoke. "Let's duel."

**And that, my dear readers, is chapter 14! I'm pretty excited, because this is my longest story I have ever made so far...and also the most popular. So, I always feel a tinge of excitement when this story is updated ^_^**

**Anyways, to answer some reviews:**

**1. I'm glad the last cliffhanger excited you...hopefully this one did as well XD**

**2. Yes, as you all know by now, a certain character is back in the story! What role does he play now? Is he an evil dude seeking revenge against Akiza, or has he had a change of heart and is hoping to become the knight in shining armor? All shall be revealed soon...probably next chapter. I'm also glad that I surprised some of you with his abrubt return to my story ;)**

**3. What happened to Leo? Well, as you can tell in this chapter he is physically fine...but seems to be harboring some kind of secret. All shall be revealed soon...**

**4. Yes, Luna is Akiza's roomate. This was essential for my story plot, and I thought it was kinda sweet ^_^**

**5. Will Yusei and his gang make it on time? Well, I showed Yusei's plans for what they are going to do, but they played a minor role this chapter. Don't worry though, they shall enter again first thing next chapter ;)**

**And I believe that's about it! I actually believe that this story is coming to a close :( It will probably have maybe two or three more chapters. I'm excited, yet sad, at the same time. Excited to finally complete this story, yet sad to have it all be over with. But every story must end, and this one will end soon. **

**I love reading what you think, so leave a review, and I'll see you guys next chapter! :D**


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